High School Demon Sweetheart
by YumeKoe
Summary: Hiyoshi and Kirihara are now in High School and have very different lives. What might happen from a chance encounter and an act of kindness?
1. Chapter 1

High School Demon Sweetheart

Author: This was my first Prince of Tennis fic from years ago. Making a few minor adjustments, but I know the writing is not great. Still, I hope anyone who decides to read it may enjoy it. Thank you. ^^

CHAPTER 1

Hiyoshi Wakashi was wandering around an overly large and populated shopping area in Shibuya, having been dragged there by his friend and ex doubles partner Mukahi Gakuto. He didn't mind so much. He was used to his friend's annoying personality. Except, Gakuto had the irritating habit of inviting along his even more annoying, unofficial significant other, Oshitari Yuushi.

Though both Oshitari and Gakuto were members of their high school tennis club, after middle school, Hiyoshi had been forced to resign from tennis to focus solely on his family's martial art. Despite this, Hiyoshi still met up with his former teammates now and then and even managed to enjoy their company on occasion.

This was not turning out to be one of those times. Just when he was in the process of thinking up some excuse to leave, Gakuto's penetrating voice cut through the thick crowds making him wince. "Look, Yuushi! It's that weird medusa freak from Rikkai!"

"Gakuto, dear, I didn't know you had any knowledge of mythological creatures. Why are we comparing Kirihara-san to Medusa?"

Gakuto shrugged and continued on as though the person he was referring to wasn't right in front of them. "Look at his hair! And he's got the weird demon eye thingy, remember?"

"I see your point. I'm so proud." Oshitari presented Gakuto with an endearing look and a pat on the head which was rewarded with a raspberry.

The whole scenario made Hiyoshi cringe a little inside. He shook his head then took a moment to look over to where Kirihara-san was looking around rather confusedly.

"HEY! MEDUSA BOY! YOU LOST OR SOMETHING?"

On more than one occasion (make that ten) Hiyoshi had wondered if he could get away with pretending like he never knew the redhead.

Predictably, Kirihara-san's head jerked around and glared daggers at them.

"What the fuck did you call me, you shrimp?"

"It is you!" The suicidal boy snorted annoyingly. "HAHA. You even responded to Medusa Boy!" Then the insult clearly registered on his face. "HEY! Don't call me a shrimp!"

Kirihara's tone changed to a smirk and his posture became much more akin to what Hiyoshi was used to seeing from the ex-captain of Rikkai's tennis team. Though they had never played in an official match the year they were both captain's of their respective teams, there had been many times throughout the year Hiyoshi had found himself curiously gazing at the child turned demon turned captain.

"Heh heh, I just call it as I see it, munchkin."

Hiyoshi was now glad he hadn't made his getaway yet and tried not to laugh out loud when Kirihara-san called Gakuto by one of his nicknames for him. Nevertheless, he could see Gakuto's cheeks turning red and puffing out which meant he was about to pounce.

Thankfully, it was Oshitari who stopped him from doing anything foolish by wrapping his arms around the fuming boy and pulling him back against his chest.

"Is there a reason you're here? Has Rikkai finally fallen to St Rudolf's level to have their youngest member come scope us out?" Unlike the boy foaming at the mouth in his arms, Oshitari seemed fairly amused by the situation.

Gakuto snickered in Oshitari's arms. "You tell him, Yuushi!"

Kirihara's eye visibly twitched. "Yeah, whatever. Like we'd ever sink as low as you guys, let alone Rudolph." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked around wearily again. "I just got separated from my senpai. They're supposed to be at the station…"

"Then why are you here instead of at the station?"

"Heh, heh. They probably lost him on purpose. Let's go!" Apparently bored now, Gakuto turned and started pulling Oshitari away with him. "C'mon Hiyo-chan! We're leaving!"

Hiyoshi watched his senpai leave but didn't follow after them right away, wanting to hear the answer to Oshitari's question. "Well?"

Kirihara blinked at Hiyoshi in surprise as if seeing him for the first time and trying to figure out who he was or why he was still there, then he looked away with a light blush on his cheeks. "I can't find the station..." In an even quieter voice he added, "My senpai's said they'd be waiting there for me... and my phone died so I can't call..."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and held out his cell phone. "Here. Make it quick.

Kirihara stared at the phone, and then looked at Hiyoshi in surprise. "Why-"

Glaring, Hiyoshi cut him off and spoke to him as if addressing a child. "Do you know anyone else around here? If you would rather not, just say so." Irritated, he started to pull away his offered phone.

Snapping to action, Akaya quickly took it with a darker blush that clashed with his yellow jersey. "T-thanks..." and dialed Sanada's number quickly and mumbled a few things into the phone, wincing a bit at the harsh voice that came through loud and clear on the other end. "Yeah-sorry fukubuchou-I'll be there soon. Yes, I know I have laps… Okay, yeah-bye..." He hung up and handed Hiyoshi his phone back.

Slightly off in the distance, Hiyoshi heard Gakuto's voice cut threw the crowd again, "Hiyo-chan! We're going to leave you~!"

Hiyoshi accepted his phone back and gave Kirihara a parting nod before turning to leave.

Kirihara stood and watched Hiyoshi leave for a moment then held up a hand. "Hey! Wait a sec! Uh… Are you uh… heading back to the station?"

With two sempai less than patiently waiting for him, Hiyoshi stopped and turned only long enough to thumb towards the right. "No. If you need to get to the station, it's that way and to the left after a block." Finished with his directions, he turned and walked away.

Kirihara watched him leave for a moment with a puzzled look then ran off in the indicated direction.

As Hiyoshi walked back to his sempai, Gakuto suddenly ran past him and picked something up off the ground. "Look! Medusa boy dropped his train pass! Hm... I wonder how much is on it?"

"I'm sure you're not thinking of stealing the poor boy's train pass, are you Gakuto?" Oshitari asked, walking over at a much more leisurely pace, giving him a warning look.

Gakuto pouted and looked at Hiyoshi. "What were you two talking about for so long anyway?"

Hiyoshi shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

Taking the pass from Gakuto, Oshitari handed it to Hiyoshi with a tensai's knowing look, smiling innocently. "I'm sure you'll take care of this."

Hiyoshi's eyes crossed slightly in annoyance but he accepted the train pass. "Why should I have too...?" He sighed. "Fine." It was probably too late now to go after him, so he decided to figure out how to give it back to him later.

After his long day of following Gakuto and Oshitari around, Hiyoshi collapsed on his bed, determined that he wouldn't be doing that again anytime soon, but knowing he probably would anyway. He took out Kirihara-san's train pass and sighed in annoyance. Picking up his phone, he searched through his previous made calls and dialed the number of whoever it was Kirihara had called earlier.

He heard a grumble in the background pick up. "Hello?"

"My apologies for the intrusion. Are you familiar with a Kirihara-san?" Hiyoshi thought the voice on the other side sounded familiar but shrugged it off.

"Of course I am. Who is this?"

Hiyoshi's eyes narrowed at the mildly rude response. It was obvious the person on the other line was not very cultured. "Beg your pardon, my name is Hiyoshi Wakashi. I picked up his train pass earlier today. Would you mind giving me a number where I can reach him?"

"Hn, so you have his pass. We went back looking for that earlier." There was a large sigh then he was finally given Kirihara-san's number. "Hiyoshi Wakashi...You're Atobe's junior. Hn... He'll be awake half the night playing video games. Call him so he stops panicking about it."

Hiyoshi didn't like the way he was being given orders but ignored it and continued in a monotone yet polite tone. "Thank you for the information. Sorry for the inconvenience. Good evening."

"Hn" And the line went dead.

Hiyoshi hung up and looked at his phone, contemplating whether or not to actually call. "Damn it... Of all people. Might as well get it over with." He dialed the number and waited.

The person he was calling was at that moment trying to distract himself with video games so he could stop thinking about where the hell his pass could be. He had just put money on it and his mother would kill him if she found out he'd lost it. His phone was in his pocket when it rang and Kirihara nearly jumped out of his skin before scrambling for it and answering it with a rushed, "Hello?"

Hiyoshi didn't feel the need to be as polite as before but remembered to introduce himself first this time. "This is Hiyoshi Wakashi. I have your train pass. Where should I return it to you?"

"Hiyoshi... Wakashi?" The boy thought about it for a moment then his eyes went wide. "You have my pass? Uh… Well, I live in Kanagawa. Um, I guess I can meet you somewhere to pick it up or something?"

He didn't even get a thank you? Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow and contemplated throwing it in the trash. "I'm in Tokyo. Do you know the tennis courts over by Yoyogi park?"

"Yeah, can you meet me there in like an hour? I think that's how long it will take to get there..."

Hiyoshi looked over at the clock and saw it was already after eight. He hadn't expected Kirihara to want to meet tonight. Damn it, this was turning out to be a bigger pain than expected. "Alright. I'll be there in an hour." He hung up the phone and got up with a grunt that was far too old sounding for someone his age. He took a quick shower since he wasn't willing to wait till he got home again for it and then left for the park.

Despite having taken a shower, Hiyoshi still arrived almost ten minutes early. He stood leaning against a railing with still damp hair and casual comfortable clean clothes on, watching a doubles match.

Kirihara ran up to Hiyoshi right on time holding his tennis bag because, well, he was going to be near courts so he might as well. Not to mention, he needed an excuse to leave the house so late. "Hey!" He stopped in front of him, panting a little. "Did you wait long?"

Hiyoshi watched him run up and took out the pass, holding it out to him. "Here's your pass." He looked back over at the game again almost wistfully then pushed himself away from the railing to go home.

Kirihara took the pass with a relieved sigh. "Thank you." He noticed the look and grinned. "You wanna play a quick game?"

"A game as a thank you? Sounds good, but unfortunately I don't play anymore."

"Why not?" The other boy asked with a frown.

"Long story. One that I'm sure you couldn't care less about." He turned to walk away. "See you around."

"Hey! Wait a sec!" Kirihara ran up to his side while shoving the pass in his pocket. "Why do you think I don't care? I wouldn't have asked if I didn't care."

Hiyoshi stopped and raised an eyebrow at Kirihara-san's curiosity. He probably didn't even remember his name, let alone care why he didn't play tennis anymore, but he figured he'd humor him. Crossing his arms over chest, Hiyoshi explained simply, "I'm the inheritor of a martial arts dojo. My father determined tennis was too much of a distraction from my art and made me give it up."

"He made you give up tennis? You're dad's kind of a dick." Kirihara said flatly.

Hiyoshi just snorted. "Yes, he is."

"Well, he's not here now. One game won't kill ya." The tennis player pulled his bag around and took out two rackets, offering one to Hiyoshi. "Whaddaya say?"

Hiyoshi looked from Kirihara to the racket, very tempted. "I haven't played in almost a year." He didn't mean it as an excuse, more of a warning.

Kirihara grinned. "That's fine. I won't use bloodshot or demon mode or nuthin-I promise."

Coming to a decision, Hiyoshi reached out and took the offered racket. The weight of it in his hand felt wonderful, and his lips curled up into a small smile. He looked up at Kirihara with challenging eyes. "Thanks, but if you hold back on me, I'll kick your ass."

"Heh heh. Wouldn't dream of it." Looking excited, Kirihara opened the gate and led them out onto the court.

Hiyoshi felt a thrill go up his spine he hadn't felt in a long time as they played. Even though he was definitely out of practice, he ended up doing better than he'd expected.

Kirihara had a giant grin from ear to ear the whole set and was covered in sweat, panting by the time they were done. He walked up to the net and held his hand out to Hiyoshi. "See, didn't that feel good?"

Hiyoshi definitely needed another shower now, but it had been worth it. He nodded and shook his hand then held out the racket for him to take back. In a quiet but sincere voice, he thanked Kirihara for the game.

Covered in sweaty curls, Kirihara took the racket with a little laugh. "Sure thing. I'm always up for tennis. I'm gonna go pro, ya know?"

Hiyoshi smirked. "I'll make sure to keep an eye out for you in the headlines then, though you might want to work on your control a bit first."

Kirihara snorted then laughed. "Yeah, the senpai-tachi tell me that all the time." He rubbed the back of his head with a big grin.

There wasn't anything else to say, so Hiyoshi decided to take his leave. "I guess I should be getting back then. Thanks again for the game. Try not to get lost on the way home."

Kirihara stuck his tongue out at him. "Hey! What are you doing next week about this time?"

"Why?"

"You gotta meet me for tennis here next week." Kirihara pointed at him. "I command it!" Despite having been a buchou, he did indeed fail at being high and mighty.

A slight smirk crossed Hiyoshi's features "And who are you to command me?"

"The mighty Kirihara Akaya, of course! I've been looking for a new practice buddy that isn't one of the senpai-tachi. I've decided it will be you!"

"You've decided, huh?" Hiyoshi shook his head, trying not to laugh even though the idea was very appealing for some reason. "What's in it for me?"

"You get to play tennis again and have company and I'll buy you dinner or dessert or whatever afterward."

"You don't need to bribe me with food." Being able to play tennis again with someone who didn't mind he was a little out of practice was reason enough to say yes. "Alright. Next week then."

Kirihara grinned as if he'd just won a major battle. "K!"

Hiyoshi left the court that evening in a better mood than he'd been in all week.

Later that night, after finishing his second shower, he saw his phone blinking. He assumed it had to be either Gakuto or Choutarou since they were the only two people who ever texted him.

'thanks for bringing me my pass! \( ^.^ )/'

His eyes grew wide, having completely forgotten that the other boy now had his number from when he'd called him. He grinned a little to himself and supposed it couldn't be helped.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Hiyoshi honestly hadn't expected to hear from Kirihara again until their arranged meet up that next Wednesday. The very next day during his lunch break, he received another text message.

'I have chocopan~! heh heh'

He looked at his phone with a very confused expression as if it had morphed into an alien mechanical being.

Choutarou, his best friend who was sitting next to him, asked in his quiet polite way, "Is everything alright, Hiyoshi?"

"Fine." It would be considered rude not to reply, but what was he was supposed to say?

'...'

'it's yummy...'

'Why are you telling me this?'

'felt like it?'

Hiyoshi felt a headache coming on. 'You're an idiot.' He messaged Kirihara back, feeling validated in his assessment.

'EH? Why?'

Hiyoshi sighed, knowing there was no point arguing logic with an idiot. 'I prefer matcha.'

'It's all bitter though!'

'So? I like bitter. '

'Youre weird'

'And you're still an idiot.'

'...mushroom.'

Hiyoshi glared at his phone. By now Choutarou was looking at him like the phone had turned him alien as well. He was NOT going to let himself be reduced down to Kirihara's maturity level.

There was a long wait until he finally responded.

'MEDUSA'

'T_T I'm not medusa! If I was I'd turn that little red head bastard to stone!'

Hiyoshi grinned, amused, trying not to let it show and failing. Maybe there was good reason to Choutarou's nearly terrified face. He hoped he wouldn't get the "I'll find you a good shrink" talk again.

'And I'm not a fungus.' He hated it when people degraded him by comparing him to a member of the fungi family. And, mushrooms where disgusting.

'no but you're a fun guy heh heh :P'

'No, I'm not...' That was ridiculous.

'Are too.'

'Am not.'

'Are too :P'

'If you really think so, then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought.'

'Eh? Why?'

'...'

'...?'

'class'

'...is boring?'

'is now'

'...your point?'

'You're an idiot'

'youre an ass :P so what class you in?'

'English'

'Ew. Lame.'

'It's not that bad.'

'Yes it is. It's the devil class'

'So you feel right at home.'

'...that's not funny '

'I thought so'

'Yeah well your sense of humor is evil'

'heh'

'-_-'

So immersed was Hiyoshi in his texting conversation, he didn't notice everyone had already left the area until Choutarou lightly patted his shoulder informing him the bell was about to ring for class. He put his phone in his pocket and hurried off, cursing the idiot in his head.

He made it back to the classroom just in time, but as he sat down in his seat, his phone started buzzing endlessly in his pocket. He decided to ignore it.

'don't ignore me!'

'H'

'I'

'Y'

'O'

'S'

'H'

'I'

'I'

'I'

Fucking annoying idiot! The usually good and reserved student thought he might die of embarrassment when the girl sitting next to him gave him a strange look. Why wasn't Kirihara giving up?

'STOP' He finally pulled his phone out and tried to discreetly message him.

'Don't ignore me then!'

'...I'm in class!'

'So?'

'so i'm busy'

'I don't care. I'm bored. No one pays attention in class nowadays anyway'

'I do'

'well it's time to change that'

Hiyoshi turned off his phone.

Far from where Hiyoshi was, in Rikkai High, a curly haired youth sent another text and received a "cannot be delivered" message. He glared at his phone. "Bastard!" he called out, completely forgetting he was the middle of class, and got detention.

Once classes were out for the day, curiosity got the better of Hiyoshi and he turned back on his phone to check if he got any new messages. When he saw he didn't, for some reason he felt a little disappointed. Just when he was about to put it away, it buzzed in his hand, making him jump slightly.

'bastard, its your fault i got detention'

Hiyoshi quickly had to hide the forming smirk.

'Maybe you should pay attention in class.'

'...you suck T_T'

'No. I'm a good student.'

'yeah, exactly. you suck '

'Then stop bugging me.'

'I dont wanna'

'Are you really that bored?'

'maybe'

'Don't you have tennis practice?'

'Yeah, soon'

'Then go bother someone there.'

'You're more amusing though'

'No, I'm not.'

'are too'

'Am not'

'Are too :P'

Hiyoshi was starting to believe Kirihara really was actually insane.

'You're crazy'

'That's what they say'

'Maybe you should get professional help for that'

'Nah'

Sighing, Hiyoshi's hand dropped to his side and he wondered why all the people he knew were insane.

'soooooo what ya doin?'

'None of your business.'

'hmm are you embarrassed or something? Oooo are you looking at porn?'

'NO' Hiyoshi quickly followed then with, 'IDIOT'

'then why wont you tell me?'

'Because its none of your business'

'why not?'

'You don't even know me'

'I do to. Your name is Hiyoshi Wakashi and you go to hyotei. You have a weird haircut. Your dad has a dojo. You practice martial arts, stopped playing tennis seriously about a year ago, and your favorite phrase is 'gekokujou' for some reason'

Hiyoshi paused mid step in the middle of the street, heard a car horn blare at him and hurried the rest of the way across.

'I'm walking home.' Kirihara had caught him off guard with that. There was a pause before he added 'and I don't have a weird haircut.'

'Yeah you do, but it suits you. It's kinda cute on you. Where do you live?'

Hiyoshi's eyes bugged out and he stopped walking again. Thankfully, this time he was on the curb. 'It's a traditional cut. And I will choose to ignore your comment since I am definitely not cute. And there is no way in hell I'm telling you after telling me that'

'Eh? why not?'

Anyone walking past Hiyoshi might have wondered why there was a high school boy standing in the middle of the curb with a red hue on his cheeks. Now Hiyoshi was worried he spent way too much time with Gakuto and Oshitari for jumping to conclusions like that.

'Never mind.' Looking around self-consciously, he started walking again and basically jogged the rest of the way home.

'uh...alright'

'Home. Have to go. Practice'

Ignoring any other messages, once he got home, Hiyoshi put his phone down in his room and left for training.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

After Hiyoshi and Kirihara's initial meet-up, the next few weeks seemed to fly by in a string of text messages and Wednesday evening tennis practices. Kirihara constantly texted Hiyoshi out of the blue at any time of the day or night and their practices tended to always last longer than planned.

Hiyoshi knew his friends were curious about where his better mood came from and who he was texting with all the time, but none had been forward enough to come out and ask him directly. Gakuto nagged in a round about way and Choutarou just looked at him strangely. The only person that annoyed him was Oshitari who kept shooting him knowing looks, but that hardly meant anything.

It was great being able to play tennis again. He was slowly building his skills back up to where they had been a year ago. He still wasn't a match for Kirihara and that bothered him, a lot. He thought perhaps the other boy would get tired of playing him, but the Rikkai player still seemed just as eager to play as he had been the first time.

It was now the weekend though and Hiyoshi hadn't heard from Kirihara all day. That troubled him for some reason. He wasn't usually the one who texted first, but… he was bored. At least that was the excuse. He pulled out his phone.

'You busy?'

'Nah, why?'

'Nothing.'

'Oh… so uh, what ya doing?'

'Nothing.'

'Exciting...'

'I'm staring at my phone and texting you.'

'...k...so uh-what are you doing today? and dont you dare say nothing.'

Hiyoshi started to write nothing again, but deleted it. Instead he wrote out, 'I don't know.'

'Alright then. You're going to come hang out with me.'

Kirihara demanding he hang out with him was very amusing, and for some reason it made Hiyoshi grin. Then he heard his father calling for him and sulked, though he would never admit to doing such a thing.

'My father is calling. I have to go.'

It wasn't until a few hours later after he was done helping his father in the dojo that Hiyoshi finally got back to his room and settled down with the novel he was currently in the middle of. He figured by then that Kirihara had completely forgotten about his ideas of hanging out that day. Of course, Kirihara chose that moment to message him again.

'Hey, what ya doin? -Don't say nothing again.'

'Reading a book on the grand master Shinken Taira from the Taisho era.'

'So nothing important, got it. Then lets go get food!'

'I like this book.'

'So? It's not going anywhere'

He'd just been able to sit down and relax, but the idea of going out with Kirihara was surprising not a bad one. He supposed he deserved this anyway since he was the one who'd contacted Kirihara in the first place earlier. He sighed and put down his book.

'Fine. Where?'

'How bout that noodle place in Harajuku? It'll take me about an hour to get there, so you have some more bonding time with your book.'

'Gee. Thanks. If you're late, I'll kick your ass. See you in an hour.'

'Sure thing~!'

As it turned out, Kirihara ended up being ten minutes late. Hiyoshi was glaring with arms crossed and foot tapping against the pavement in front of the noodle shop as Kirihara showed up with one hand behind his head, rubbing the back of it.

"Heh, heh. Sorry. I fell asleep on the train."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. He just walked into the noodle shop with Kirihara smiling and trotting in after him.

Stopping at the menu machine, Hiyoshi got a ticket for hot soba with tofu while Kirihara got one for beef udon. He took Kirihara's ticket from him and placed them both on the order counter, then turned to take a seat in the quietest corner of the small restaurant.

Kirihara only had to wait a minute for their food then followed along happily after Hiyoshi with the tray. "Oh, you got a good table."

Once his food was in front of him, Hiyoshi took a bite of his very hot soba. "Were you bored today?"

"Yeah. All my senpai are busy with exams right now." Kirihara waited for his own noodles to cool down a bit before starting in.

Hiyoshi nodded. "So are mine. Heh, I doubt that's what they're actually doing though. I was wondering why you would invite me out when it's not our usual meet up day for tennis."

"You're fun to hang out with." Kirihara blinked confused. "What do you think your senpai are actually doing?"

Hiyoshi thought Kirihara must be insanely bored a lot to think he was fun. "Do you think your senpai are actually studying?"

"They said that's what they're doing, so yeah..." Kirihara gave him that innocent blinking look again and Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow incredulously. Kirihara seemed to have a lot of blind faith in his senpai.

"What?" The medusa-haired boy asked before digging into his meal with a little "ittadakimasu."

"Nothing," Hiyoshi shrugged. "Do you ever doubt your senpai?"

"Why would I? Well, besides Niou-senpai sometimes. Yanagi-senpai always says I shouldn't listen to him, but he's my senpai, so he won't get me in trouble." The too trusting kouhai had a big smile on his face as he said this, looking like a little demon with an angel's smile.

Hiyoshi snickered. "If you say so." He wouldn't trust his senpai with... anything.

"You should come to Rikkai sometime and play with us. All our practices are a lot of fun."

The Hyotei boy nearly coughed in the middle of a bite. "I doubt that would be a wise idea."

"Why not?"

"Che. Even if your senpai wouldn't hold it against me that I'm from Hyotei, I doubt I would ever hear the end of it from my own."

"Don't tell them then. Mine wouldn't mind. It's not like you're on the team any more. Though I think you'd have to play Fukubuchou… He's got an "alpha dog" thing going on. I don't really get it, but that's what Yanagi-senpai said."

"You mean Sanada-san, right? Heh, I guess I could see that. In any case, somehow the chipmunk or the tensai would find out. They always do." Hiyoshi thought about it. It actually sounded interesting, being able to watch the nationally ranked Rikkai team practice. "Maybe when I'm back in shape again for playing."

"Chipmunk? You have a chipmunk on your team?" Kirihara's eyes were wide in childish disbelief.

This time Hiyoshi almost spit out his food and choked on his laughter.

"What's so funny?"

The martial artist had to force himself to calm down and swallow. He then glared at Kirihara for almost killing him. "I meant Gakuto, idiot."

"Oooooooooh. He's a chipmunk? Is that why he can jump so high?"

At this point Hiyoshi thought it best to stop eating for now less Kirihara really might kill him. "It's just a nick... ugh. Never mind. Yes, he's really a chipmunk in disguise fooling you all."

The trusting look of amazement on Kirihara's features was almost disturbing.

"I gotta tell Niou-senpai! He'll be pissed there's a better trickster than him." He pulled out his phone and texted almost inhumanly fast.

Hiyoshi thought about stopping him before the idiot embarrassed himself, but figured his senpai were probably used to Kirihara being a gullible idiot. Besides, it was amusing him greatly. He took a drink of the nice cool water on the table to help clear his throat and hide the mocking grin on his face.

Kirihara smiled and glanced at his phone as it buzzed and read the message. "Hey! Am not!" He messaged back and closed the phone with a little pout.

Hiyoshi snorted. "What?"

"Nothing." He glared at the phone as he got texted back, but just stuck his tongue out at it and went back to eating.

Deciding to drop it, Hiyoshi went back to eating as well, immensely more amused by this lunch than he thought he would be.

Akaya stared at his phone as he ate then finally gave in and flipped it open to check the message. "Oh, apparently Niou-senpai and Sanada-fukubuchou are in Harajuku, too. I guess Niou-senpai was trying to update fukubuchous look," he laughed.

Hiyoshi took that as his cue to go and finished up his soba. "Okay." He stood to leave. "I'll see you on Wednesday for practice."

"Where are you going?" Kirihara asked, looking confused.

"Home. Where else would I go?"

"Why are you leaving already though?"

"Your senpai are here."

"Yeah...?"

"...And I assume now that they are available and presumably not studying, you would want to go with them." Hiyoshi thought that should have been obvious.

"But I'm hanging out with you..."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and sat back down. "Look, all I'm saying is I won't hold it against you if you would rather go with them." He felt rather ridiculous for having to spell it out.

"No way, I see them all the time. I don't see you that often." Kirihara was giving him a confused look as if Hiyoshi were the crazy one.

Perhaps he'd jumped to conclusions too fast again. A small grin appeared. "Okay... what would you like to do then?"

"I dunno. We can go shopping since we're here?"

"Alright, let's go then." Hiyoshi was used to being dragged around by other people, but it was a nice feeling, being a first choice for company. He stood up again and walked toward the exit.

Kirihara got up and followed him happily. "Alright! Let's find you something cool!"

Hiyoshi's eyes bugged out and he stopped. "What! Why for me? You're the one who wants to go shopping!"

"Yeah, but I'm fashionable enough." Kirihara gestured to himself and what Hiyoshi guessed would be considered a rather trendy outfit. Really, it was just dark jeans, a layered tank top with random English on it, and a chain necklace. "You on the other hand are not."

Hiyoshi looked down at his orange striped shirt and the plain baggy jean shorts he'd had for years. "What's wrong with my clothes?" He'd never cared about clothes in particular outside of his uniform and gi, and these worked just fine.

"Nothing. They're just plain." Kirihara took his hand on the crowded street and started dragging him into shops.

A red hue came to Hiyoshi's cheeks as Kirihara pulled him through the crowd. "Maybe I like plain..." he said grumpily.

"Well, then we'll just look and have fun."

Hiyoshi didn't answer, too busy looking around, making sure there was no one he knew who would see him being dragged around by a crazy person.

Kirihara, who obviously wasn't looking where they were going, ended up running right into the flat firm chest of… "Ow-sorr-eh? Fukubuchou?"


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Sanada Gennichirou raised an eyebrow and looked to where his kouhai, Kirihara Akaya, was holding Hiyoshi Wakashi's hand.

"Oh? What have we here?" Niou asked, sliding around and throwing an arm over Kirihara's shoulder. "On a date, brat?"

Kirihara looked at Niou suspiciously and held Hiyoshi's hand a little tighter to keep him from running off. "We're shopping."

The red hue on Hiyoshi's cheeks was growing more prominent. He tried to pull away from Kirihara, but the grip the other had on him was surprisingly strong. He tried pulling again, confused when he was just held onto tighter. Instead, he just tried to stay silent with a bored look on his face, not wanting to make the situation any worse. The last thing he'd wanted was to be accosted by Rikkai dai.

"Hn, give us a call before you head back. We'll ride with you so you don't miss the stop again." Sanada instructed in his usual overbearing, commanding tone.

"Yeah, cause we're not paying for the taxi to get you home again." Niou gave Kirihara's shoulders a little squeeze with a sly smirk. "You'll have to tell us all of the little details…"

"Niou."

Niou looked up at Sanada as his name was called and laughed. "Yeah yeah, alright."

Kirihara smiled as Sanada put a hand on his head then grabbed Niou, dragging him off. As he was being pulled away, Niou called back, "Be careful of overgrown chipmunks!"

Hiyoshi was relieved to see them finally leaving and snorted at Kirihara who was sticking his tongue out at them as they left. "You can let go of my hand now..." he told him awkwardly, giving another little tug.

Kirihara blinked and looked at their hands. "Oh, sorry" and let go.

Hiyoshi retrieved his hand promptly, wondering if somehow that small interaction would come back to haunt him in the future. Trying to shrug it off, he looked around as if trying to find a shop interesting enough to go into, but they all looked the same to him.

"So uh, wanna to go Akiba or something?" Kirihara asked, as if having the same problem.

"What's in Akiba?"

"Video games," the other explained simply. "And girls in skimpy clothes, if you're into that kinda thing."

Hiyoshi shrugged. "Whatever is fine." Anything was better than going home.

Kirihara grinned and started toward the station with Hiyoshi following him through the crowd. Hiyoshi was actually thankful they weren't going to stay in Harajuku where it was so insanely crowded.

As if the same thought was on his mind, Kirihara grabbed his hand again, tugging him along as if he were worried they would get separated. Hiyoshi was yanked back into place behind him.

"Um... why are you holding my hand again?" Not that it really bothered him, but he thought perhaps he should point it out in case Kirihara didn't realize how silly it was for two boys to be holding hands in public.

"Cause I don't wanna get separated..."

Sighing, not really caring now that the rest of Rikkai were no longer in sight, Hiyoshi lightly held his hand back as Kirihara led them into the station and they hopped onto the Yamanote Line. He let go of Kirihara's hand once they were in the train and looked around for a seat before just leaning back against the wall near the door with Kirihara standing beside him.

The trip was quiet at first. Every once in a while, Hiyoshi would look over at Kirihara and study his profile. He found that he enjoyed watching the other boy. Before, he'd thought he just liked watching him play tennis, but it seemed he could be just as amused watching him on a boring train.

The curly haired boy watched the people on the train curiously, eyes darting around busily. He glanced out the window as they stopped and watched people on the platform, eyes always moving around just like on a court. "Almost there..." He mumbled to himself.

Hiyoshi chuckled. "Do you ever stop moving?"

"Eh? ...No, I guess not." he answered with a grin.

"Didn't think so." Hiyoshi moved his own gaze to look out the window with a small smile. Unlike Kirihara, minus the natural sway of the train, he remained perfectly still.

Unaware to Hiyoshi, Kirihara then took his turn to watch him. Even then, his eyes moved rapidly over the other boy's profile and body. After a few minutes, Hiyoshi noticed Kirihara's looks through the reflection of the window, but didn't say anything, wondering what he was thinking.

Kirihara had been thinking he was really hungry again and there was a new game coming soon that he wanted, and Hiyoshi had a nice ass.

Hiyoshi turned around and flicked Kirihara on the forehead. "What are you thinking about?"

Kirihara winced and rubbed his forehead. "Oi-I was thinking you have a nice ass-er…" There was a definite wide-eyed expression of "Oops" on his face as Kirihara flushed. He got off the train quickly as the doors opened and the voice announced Akihabara.

Hiyoshi was stunned for a moment, mouth hanging slightly agape, wondering if he'd heard correctly. He followed him off the train right before the doors closed then had to pick up his pace in order to catch up with him. "That was a bad joke, idiot." He grumbled when he was walking beside him again.

"Joke?"

"Yeah. If you don't want to tell me what you're thinking about, that's fine. Where is this place we're going?" He figured it had to be joke, but he was used to it. Gakuto and Oshitari made ridiculous jokes like that to him all the time.

"I told you what I was thinking about…" Kirihara blinked and shook his head. "Whatever. It's this way." He wandered through the streets, past all the electronic shops with noisy people calling to them about deals.

Hiyoshi wondered if Kirihara had honestly been thinking he had a nice... He swallowed awkwardly to clear his throat so he didn't choke. The hateful red came back to his cheeks and he decided to drop it for both their sakes.

Once they arrived at Kirihara's favorite game store, he led them in with a big smile as the man behind the counter waved and said hi to him, calling him by name.

"You must come here a lot." Hiyoshi chuckled, silently following behind. He'd never actually played games like these before.

"Yeah, this place is the best!" The overly excited teenager went upstairs and started looking through stacks of games. To Hiyoshi, who didn't know a lot about games, they all looked like random fighting ones. "Oooo this one is awesome!"

Hiyoshi gave him a blank look. "What is it?"

"Dead or Alive. I haven't played the first one in years."

Kirihara seemed entirely too excited about something that came in a small plastic case. Hiyoshi just nodded even though he had no idea what it was.

"We should play it sometime!"

"I guess" he answered, looking unsure.

"It's fun! You can just button mash if you don't know the combos."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. "I'm not even sure I know what a combo is supposed to be, but I'll try."

Kirihara blinked. "Have you never played a fighting game before?"

"No," he answered bluntly.

The video game crazy boy blinked at him again. "How have you survived for so long?"

Hiyoshi wondered if that was a trick question. "Just fine, thank you."

Kirihara shook his head. "You're crazy!"

Hiyoshi just laughed as Kirihara went to pick another game.

"Have you played any video games?"

Hiyoshi thought about it, not sure if Dance Dance Revolution and other rhythm games counted, but decided against it. "No."

"EH?"

He shrugged. "There was never any reason to."

Kirihara just gaped at him for a bit. "We need to change this!"

Amused, Hiyoshi laughed again. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed this much. "Whatever you say."

"There's a game center down the street, let's go!"

The apparently lacking in an important part of life Hiyoshi didn't particularly want to go into the overly crowded, loud, five story gaming building with too many flashing lights, but went along anyway. When they got there, Kirihara took him up to what looked to be the fighting game area and quickly found an open machine. "Alright, sit." He commanded, pulling out his coin purse and inserting a coin, starting to explain the controls.

Hiyoshi was very unsure about this, but sat down anyway, not seeing any harm in it. "What kind of game is this?"

"This is street fighter 4. It's a fighting game."

"What strategies do you use?"

"Eh? Oh, all the characters have different styles."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. "I get that it's a fighting game, but isn't there some kind of strategy you need to use, like in chess or checkers?"

Kirihara stared at him like he was crazy. "You beat the crap outta the other guy."

Hiyoshi looked around confused. "What other guy?"

Kirihara sweat dropped. "You'll see," he pointed to the screen. "Pick your character."

Many different characters appeared on a selection screen. "Oh... You meant in the game." He had thought for a moment he was supposed to be opposing someone else playing the same game. He pressed a button and supposed that selected a character because the screen changed.

Kirihara sweat dropped again. "Er—yeah. What did you think I… Never mind. Alright, the match is about to start. Get ready."

Hiyoshi sat there with his hands on foreign controls. One character started to attack and he figured that must be him. He tried to remember what Kirihara had told him about which buttons did what but now he couldn't remember a single one. He started to just press them randomly. Fairly quickly, the other opponent fell over. "Did I win?"

"No... You actually have to attack the other guy..."

"I did. I pressed a few of the buttons and he moved." He was starting to get irritated.

Kirihara sat down in the seat next to him. "Alright, watch me, I'll show you how you do it, okay?" He put a coin in while Hiyoshi sat with his arms crossed and watched. He picked out a character then pointed as the screen came up. "The one on the left is always you when you're playing the computer." He put his hands back on the controls and began efficiently decimating the opponent with determined focused eyes as the match started.

Hiyoshi looked back and forth between watching the screen and Kirihara's face. The 2-D fight was interesting, but Kirihara now had the expression on his face that first made Hiyoshi interested in him and his matches. That completely focused and enthralled expression.

When the game finished, Kirihara was all smiles. "See?" He looked over at him. "Just like that."

"I admit it's interesting to watch, but why would I want to do it on a screen when I can already do most of that myself?" Except for the weird attacks shooting out from their hands, he amended to himself, but that was obvious.

Kirihara liked to blink at him it seemed. He did it a lot. "Eh? You can?"

"I already told you. I'm the inheritor of a martial arts dojo... I uh… do this stuff every day." He felt a bit awkward for saying it.

Kirihara's eyes sparkled. "Can I come watch sometime?"

"Watch?" Hiyoshi's eyes crossed slightly in confusion. "You can go to a tournament or something if you're interested in watching matches. They have them on TV every once in a while, if that's what you mean."

"I want to watch you, dummy."

Hiyoshi thought he might have heard wrong again. "Why would you... It would be boring." He thought about it. "I doubt my father would allow non-practitioners to observe anyway."

"I'll ask him nicely! I really want to see you do it! I bet you look really cool!"

He couldn't help grinning at the compliment, but the idea of Kirihara talking to his father was absurd. "You'll get me in trouble if you ask him. Maybe I can bring you to one of our smaller schools."

Kirihara grinned. "Really?"

"Sure." He really shouldn't, but... "No one will say anything, so it should be okay."

"Yay!"

Hiyoshi gave a small smile at Kirihara's enthusiasm. "Do you want to play again?"

"Eh? Sure." Kirihara inserted another coin.

Hiyoshi leaned back in the seat and enjoyed watching. As he played, Hiyoshi made snide commentary on which moves were actually physically possible and which were ridiculous. He snickered at a particular jump kick combo that somehow made the character fly.

Kirihara stuck his tongue out at him. "Hey! It could happen!"

"Sure. With a lot of wire and potential fatal injury, and that's with using my imagination."

Kirihara laughed. Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. Kirihara smiled happily and fought a couple more matches while Hiyoshi continued to watch and comment.

They were both smiling and enjoying themselves when Hiyoshi's phone vibrated in his pocket. "I'll be right back," he excused himself and left to answer it.

"Alright," Kirihara replied and stayed to play more.

Hiyoshi was only gone for a few minutes, but came back looking irritated. "I can only stay out a little longer. Was there anything else you wanted to do?"

"Eh, no, just hanging out is fun. You gotta go home?" Kirihara asked without looking away from the game.

"Yeah, my father wants me home for dinner tonight. I think his evening class was cancelled which means I have to be there."

Kirihara stood from the machine. "Oh, alright, it's cool. Wanna go hop on the train? I'll ride with ya to your station, 's not like I got anywhere I gotta be."

"Didn't your senpai want you to meet them before you went anywhere?" Hiyoshi asked, feeling guilty and annoyed for having to leave so early. "I'll just go back with you to Harajuku so you can meet up with them."

"Nah, I'll meet up with them after."

Hiyoshi nodded, not wanting to refuse and almost wishing he didn't have to leave this place that he usually avoided at all costs. "We can... come back again sometime if you want." He wasn't going to be so forward as to tell him he wanted to come out with him again, but was just giving him the option. He turned to walk toward the escalator and exit.

They walked out of the building together, Hiyoshi silently trying to figure out what to say that didn't sound too lame or boring. "The game center wasn't so bad." He mentally winced. So much for not being lame.

Kirihara grinned, trotting along beside him. "It's one of my favorite places in the world," he laughed. "How far away is your house?"

"One line from Shinjuku and then a 15 minute walk. Why?"

"Just curious."

"How far away is your place?"

"Uh, like an hour and a half from Shinjuku then a 10 minute walk."

That was a long distance to come out just to have lunch with him and then to have to leave early, Hiyoshi thought with a curse. "Sorry I made you come out this far, next time we can meet somewhere else if you want."

"Eh? Make me?" He did the blinky thing again. "You didn't make me do anything."

Hiyoshi let out another small chuckle. "Why is it that whenever I apologize to you for something, you disagree with me over it?"

Kirihara grinned. "Cause you apologize for weird stuff."

The young martial artist shook his head. "Then I'll be sure never to apologize to you ever again just to be sure not to do it again."

Kirihara laughingly agreed. "Alright."

They arrived at the station and had to hurry to make it onto the train. Kirihara ran along beside Hiyoshi, having fun dodging people. When they made it to the platform, Hiyoshi grabbed Kirihara's arm to pull him in with him just before the doors close behind them.

"We made it!" Kirihara cheered.

Now that he thought about it, Hiyoshi had no idea why they hurried when he had no problem waiting for the next one. Then he realized he was still holding onto Kirihara's arm and abruptly let it go. "Sorry."

"I thought you said you weren't going to apologize anymore?" Kirihara laughed and leaned against Hiyoshi's side.

"My mistake." Hiyoshi glared at him. "Damn it…" he mumbled as Kirihara continued to laugh. He looked everywhere but at Kirihara until his gaze settled outside on some distant location, not really paying attention since he was more concentrating on where Kirihara was still leaning against him.

After a few minutes, Hiyoshi looked back to where Kirihara's head had landed on his shoulder and wondered why he hadn't moved away yet. Then he heard a soft snore and realized the other boy had fallen asleep. He tried to hide a small smirk. Their stop was soon anyway.

Kirihara was nuzzling against him when Hiyoshi noticed a couple girls their age who were giggling and watching them. Hiyoshi blushed and nudged him. "Kirihara, we're almost at our stop..."

The sleepy boy blinked and yawned, but didn't move away. "Hm? We are? That was fast..."

Hiyoshi could see now why Kirihara always missed his stop. "Come on." He moved away, but left a hand out just in case the other boy fell over.

Kirihara did stumble a bit, but easily caught himself and yawned again before rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Alright..."

Hiyoshi nudged him forward and out the sliding doors as they opened. "And I thought Jiroh-senpai was the only one I knew who falls asleep everywhere." He grinned teasingly at him, thinking that he'd been smiling too much today. His jaw was starting to hurt.

"Oh! That's the guy that's got the crush on Marui-senpai, right?"

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if he has a crush on him, but he's definitely obsessed with his tennis." Personally, he'd always thought Jiroh-senpai just had a thing for any one who beat him.

"He shows up at Rikkai every once in a while and they go out for cake and stuff. It's totally a crush."

"Oh..." Hiyoshi felt a little embarrassed for even talking about it. "Not sure I wanted to know that."

Kirihara looked at him curiously. "Why? Does it bother you? Two guys seeing each other?"

"No." Hiyoshi shrugged. "Just didn't want the mental picture of the two of them on a sugar high in a cake shop together."

Kirihara laughed at the image and Hiyoshi suddenly stopped and winced, his hands coming up to massage his temples. Kirihara smiled and threw an arm over Hiyoshi's shoulders and Hiyoshi glared at him. "I just had a terrible mental image of our captains going to a cake shop together. That is NEVER allowed to happen."

"Of Atobe-san and Yukimura-buchou?" Kirihara snickered. "Buchou would have fun with it. Atobe-san would probably take them to the best place in all of Japan."

"Please do not elaborate on the image. It's already painful enough as it is..." He could imagine a war breaking out at some point that ended with sugary destruction that he refused to be apart of.

Kirihara just smiled. "Maybe buchou would bring me back a cake..."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. "I'll buy you a damn cake if we can change the subject!"

Kirihara's eyes lit up. "Really?"

He hadn't actually meant it literally, but didn't want to turn down that hopeful look. "Sure." He shrugged.

"Yay~!"

Hiyoshi looked up at the signs and calculated the time in his head. "Are you sure you want to go with me to my station? It would be easier to go straight back to Harajuku from here."

"Yeah, I'll go back there after."

Since Kirihara had apparently made up his mind, Hiyoshi saw no reason to argue it. On the way toward the next platform, he saw a cake shop and wondered if he should stop in order to fulfill his promise now. Looking at the time though, he realized he would be late if they stopped for too long.

He got a little ahead before realizing Kirihara was no longer beside him. Cursing, he looked around in every direction, but the crowd at Shinjuku always made it nearly impossible to find anyone. "Shit." He hated Shinjuku station. He moved to a side wall so he wouldn't be blocking the flow of traffic and tried to spot medusa hair.

He started to get frustrated and more than a little bothered that he couldn't find him, when he saw someone across the way and down the hall seemingly waving his arms around wildly at him above the crowd. He figured the idiot drawing attention to himself had to be Kirihara and walked towards him quickly. As he got closer to the bench, Hiyoshi looked up at the smiling boy standing on it. "And here I thought I'd gotten rid of you."

Kirihara smiled and hopped down. "Nope! Not yet," he laughed.

Hiyoshi shook his head. "Let's go then, and try not to get lost this time."

"Hey, you were the one who left me behind!" He grabbed onto the back of Hiyoshi's shirt so he wouldn't get separated again.

Hiyoshi felt the pull on the back of his shirt and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything about it. "Did not..."

"Did, too." The immature one stuck his tongue out.

"Did not." Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault you have the attention span of a nat."

"Of a wha-ooo video games!"

Hiyoshi face palmed. "Did you want to stop in there?"

"Nah, it's alright. I'll go to the cheap shop near my house later."

They got all the way to the ticket gate entrance before Hiyoshi pointed out. "You have to let go of my shirt so we can go through."

"Oh, yeah, heh heh."

Kirihara let go and they both pulled out their train passes and went through the gates then up to the platform. Hiyoshi tried not to laugh at how many times he had to steer and nudge Kirihara in the right direction.

"I think I should buy a leash for the next time we go out together."

"Eh? Why? Are you going to bring a dog?"

"I suppose I would be bringing the equivalent," he snickered.

"Uh, okay?" Complete blank look.

Hiyoshi smiled evilly and leaned to the side to whisper in his ear. "Though I've never heard of the medusa breed before."

There was a pause and a blink, and then he got it. "Hey!"

Hiyoshi laughed and pulled him onto the train. The trip to Hiyoshi's final stop was not very long and was for the most part silent. Hiyoshi stood quietly, content to watch Kirihara again, which was turning into a rather bad habit. Kirihara, not noticing the stare, was leaning against the wall with a smiling half asleep expression, though every once in a while his eyes would abruptly move to pick up movement in the only half filled train.

When the loudspeaker announced their stop, Hiyoshi called to him. "Kirihara?"

Kirihara blinked and looked around, as if trying to remember where he was. "Yeah?"

"This is my stop. It would be easier for you if you just went across the platform to the opposite train and went back." Even though he wouldn't have minded the other boy's company a little while longer, he thought it would be for the best that they parted ways now. The train doors opened and they walked out.

Kirihara looked straight at him for a moment as if debating with himself. "Okay. We can do this again sometime, right?"

Was it his imagination, or was that hope he saw in Kirihara's eyes when he asked him that? Hiyoshi cleared his throat and tried not to think about it too much. "Yeah…"

Kirihara's grin spread wide across his face making Hiyoshi feel a bit dumbfounded. There was a brief wave of goodbyes and they parted.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Hiyoshi could count on one hand how many times he'd ditched a class; in fact, he didn't even need the whole hand. This was going to be one of those days. The day had started with his brother and father fighting loud enough for it to echo throughout the whole house, and then continued on with him being late to class and uncharacteristically forgetting an assignment at home. Of course, then Gakuto had to go and open his big annoying mouth and piss him off even further. He really didn't care about how many girls Oshitari flirted with every day. He really didn't feel like dealing with the rest of the day.

It was Monday and Hiyoshi was at the tennis park where he usually met with Kirihara on Wednesday's. They hadn't planned on meeting today, but for some reason, he'd felt the urge to go there. Gakuto and Oshitari were still displaying their bad taste in jokes trying to figure out who he texted with daily, and even Choutarou was getting nosier as of late. But still, he didn't want to tell them, or anyone. Hiyoshi's time with Kirihara at the tennis park had become his valued time away from his father, Hyotei, and life in general. He wasn't ready yet to let anyone else be apart of it.

Figuring he had nothing better to do, he sent a text to Kirihara.

'Are you busy?'

Kirihara was currently sleeping on the school roof skipping class when he heard his phone beep. Cracking an eye open, he pulled it out and texted back. 'No, ditching. Why?'

'Unless you have a terrible urge to go back to class today, I'm at the tennis park on the west side benches.'

Kirihara smirked. 'On my way' He ran down the stairs to leave the building and jumped the school fence to escape detection. After that, he ran all the way to the train station, and then to the tennis park.

Hiyoshi didn't respond to the text. He leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes. The park was mostly deserted since school was in session, so it was nice and quiet with the sun hot and shining down on him. It felt good to be outside after a bad morning and he let himself zone out while waiting for his friend.

When Kirihara arrived, panting slightly, he smiled and flopped down next to him. "Hi."

Hiyoshi didn't bother to open his eyes when he felt the other boy approach. "Hi."

Kirihara swung his legs back and forth on the bench. "So, skippin class, huh?"

Hiyoshi opened his eyes enough to look at him and roll them. "Obviously."

"You seem like too good of a boy to do that." The other boy smirked.

"I usually am. I had a feeling that wouldn't be the case for you." Which was why, Hiyoshi concluded, he decided to text him.

Kirihara laughed. "Yeah, I was sleepin on the roof."

"You do that often?"

"Yeah. It's nice up there."

Hiyoshi chuckled. "Maybe I'll try that..."

"You should, it's a good break from everything."

Hiyoshi nodded, then leaned back and closed his eyes again, already feeling much better than before; Kirihara watching him with a smile.

After a long moment, Hiyoshi couldn't help peeking an eye open to look at him and bristled uncomfortably when he realized he was being stared at. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothin." The medusa boy said with a big grin plastered on his face.

Hiyoshi twitched under his stare and looked away in the opposite direction. "You're annoying."

"Heh heh, my senpai say that a lot..."

The Hyotei boy didn't like the idea of having something in common with people from Rikkai. He crossed his arms indignantly, mumbling, "Rikkai people are all annoying..."

Kirihara poked him.

Hiyoshi made an uncouth squawk at the unexpected move and his eyes went wide in surprise. He couldn't believe the other boy had just done that. He glared and poked him back.

This, of course, led to Kirihara grinning and attacking him with tickles. Not expecting that at all, Hiyoshi immediately started twitching like crazy under his fingers while trying to bat his hands away. "Hey!" He bit his lip, trying to muffle any sounds. "Nn!nn!" he coughed, a small cackle escaped. "NN! Stop that!"

Kirihara only laughed and tickled his sides more, "No way!"

"Stu...pid!" Hiyoshi heaved for breath and cackled a few more times while wriggling some more. He tried to punch him away and nearly fell off the bench.

After another minute, Kirihara finally stopped and just laughed happily; glad the other man could make those faces as well.

Breathing hard, Hiyoshi ungracefully pulled himself the rest of the way back onto the bench again. Flopping down on his back, he looked up to towards the sky with the intent to yell at the annoying Rikkai demon. Instead of seeing the clear blue sky, his eyes landed on Kirihara's face. It was then he realized his head was in Kirihara's lap.

Turning beet red, any words the embarrassed boy might have said left him. He punched Kirihara in the leg awkwardly and started to move away; however, Hiyoshi froze in his movements when suddenly he felt the other's hand in his hair.

Kirihara was grinning down at him and running his hand through his hair as if to fix it. No one had ever touched Hiyoshi like that before that he could remember. Closing his eyes, he forgot to feel embarrassed. Slowly, he relaxed. Even more slowly, his head lowered until it was fully resting on Akaya's thigh.

Kirihara's eyes softened and kept fixing Hiyoshi's hair. After a moment, he stopped fixing it and just petted it, liking the way it was so straight and soft, unlike his.

Hiyoshi made a small little "Mm..." sound, feeling very comfortable while that hand played idly over his head. "I had a bad day..." He whispered just loud enough for Kirihara to hear. He hadn't meant to say it, but he was so relaxed it just kinda slipped out. Now that it was out though, he didn't really care.

"Want to talk about it?" Kirihara asked quietly.

"No." He felt rather pathetic for letting himself admit it in the first place. "It doesn't matter."

"...Is your day getting any better?" Kirihara asked with a smile.

Hiyoshi turned his face to the side, hoping Kirihara wouldn't see his blush. After a moment, thinking over the question, he turned even more till his nose almost rubbed against Kirihara's thigh. "Yes..."

He felt a small electric shiver run down his spine when fingers touched and played with the hair at the base of his neck, and his thoughts flew. He wanted to continue feeling Kirihara touch him a little too much. At that thought, he jolted up and backed off of him. "I... um… Thanks for meeting me." He cleared his throat. "We should probably get back to school soon." He stood up to leave.

Kirihara blinked and frowned. "Eh-I'm not going back..."

"Why not?" Hiyoshi looked at his watch. "We should both still be able to make it back in time for the last two classes if we leave now."

"I'm already out, why would I go back?" was said matter of fact, as if Hiyoshi was an idiot for even bringing up the idea.

Hiyoshi figured it was useless to tell him because school was important. Plus, he didn't want to sound like his father. "Never mind." He wondered if he should consider not going back as well, though he was torn since he'd never ditched a whole half day before.

"Why do you want to go back so bad?"

"I don't, I just…" Feel like I should? Need to get away from you? Both? All of the above sounded lame. "Won't your senpai be mad if you ditch the rest of the day?"

"No. I'll go back for practice. Anyway, if I don't feel like it, Fukubuchou will just give me laps."

Hiyoshi remembered the days of getting laps and smirked, wondering what the real harm would be. What sounded more appealing? Going back to school and dealing with a bunch of idiots, or hanging out with just one rather amusing idiot? "Fine. I'll stay."

He was rewarded a grin for his answer and Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and smacked Kirihara upside the head lightly without thinking. He was somewhat surprised by his own forward actions, but quickly shrugged them off. "Uh... Is there anything you want to do?" He had no idea what people normally did when ditching for no good reason.

Kirihara just laughed at the hit and blushed a little. "Wanna go to the arcade or something?"

Hiyoshi remembered the last time they went to the arcade and shrugged. "Sure."

"Oh! Or we could go somewhere you go a lot!" He sounded genuinely curious to know where he spent his time.

"Somewhere I go?" His eyebrows knotted together in confusion. "I go to the library a lot..." He tried to think of something else.

"Eh?" Kirihara stared at him like he was crazy.

Hiyoshi felt like smacking him again. It was quiet at the library, and better than going home. "If I'm not at the library, I'm usually either here or at one of my family's dojo."

"Can I see your family's dojo?" Kirihara shined his big starry eyes at him.

"If you really want to." Hiyoshi shrugged, "We can go to one of the smaller ones. You'll only be able to watch from the side though."

"That's ok!" Kirihara grinned excitedly like it was a big deal.

Amused by his enthusiasm, Hiyoshi turned to walk out of the park, somehow feeling a little nervous about showing Kirihara one of his dojo. "It's not that exciting. There's one not too far from here, and I don't think the master there will mind me bringing someone. Have you ever been to a dojo before?"

"Just Sanada-fukubuchou's. I got hit with sticks there though so I left really fast." Kirihara followed alongside him, not seeming put off by his warning.

Hiyoshi snorted under his breath. He assumed the big sticks Kirihara was referring to were bokkens. He thought he remembered something about Sanada-san being from a Kendo family. "At my dojo, we throw metal at you and stab you with pointy things and shorter sticks."

Kirihara's eyes went huge. "Eh?"

Hiyoshi just barely stopped himself from laughing. "It's a joke. They'll only do that to me."

"EH? So… you're like a ninja!"

Hiyoshi sweat-dropped. "I guess... Something like that. Some of the weapons we use are used by "ninjas" in movies and games, but it's never very accurate."

"Really? So you can use all that stuff?" The Rikkai boy was practically sparkling with excitement.

"Yeah..." Hiyoshi answered quietly in proud embarrassment, but then quickly amended, "but don't get your hopes up. It's not as exciting as they make it in the movies."

Kirihara grabbed Hiyoshi's hand and tugged him, practically running. "Come on! I want to see!"

This time the laugh did escape and Hiyoshi had to pull on Kirihara's hand when he started running in the wrong direction. "This way, idiot." He led him down another smaller street.

Kirihara's grin only widened as he let Hiyoshi lead. Not pulling away or seeming to mind when Hiyoshi never let go of his hand.

After only another block, Hiyoshi brought them to a medium sized normal looking house that didn't look like a dojo at all. Not bothering to knock, they went through the front gates and opened the door. A bell rang as they entered and a middle aged lady came to meet them.

"Hiyoshi-kun! What a nice surprise. We weren't expecting you. Can I help you with something?" The lady asked with an accommodating smile. She eyed the boy whom Hiyoshi was holding hands with, with mild curiosity.

"I'm just showing a..." Hiyoshi thought about it, "…a friend around. I hope we're not disturbing you." He realized then that he hadn't let go of Kirihara's hand and fought off the blush on his cheeks.

"Of course it's no trouble. They're having the children's lessons right now. I'm sure they will be happy to see you." The woman smiled kindly at Kirihara who grinned at the lady like an adorable grade-schooler.

Hiyoshi nodded at her words, and then bowed politely before dragging Kirihara with him down the familiar hallway. "My family owns a few dojo outside of the main one at our house. These are run by separate families at their homes." Hiyoshi explained as he led Kirihara through the house. "Since there is a class going on now, we'll have to be quiet." He waited for Kirihara to nod in understanding before opening what looked to be a normal door to a bedroom. What was there instead, was a very large room that had obviously been remodeled for classes. Practice mats were spread around and there were a few practice weapons hanging on the wall.

Five children looking to be around five to seven were following the instructions of an older middle-aged man. They were doing basic exercises with short practice staffs. Kirihara watched the kids silently, eyes widening a little to take everything in.

The man in charge looked to see who their company was and, upon seeing Hiyoshi, brought the exercise to a close. "Hiyoshi-kun!" He smiled. "This is a nice surprise."

Hiyoshi bowed respectfully. "Please don't stop the class on my account, Watanaka-sensei."

The kids, obviously not caring at all that they were in the middle of class, rushed at Hiyoshi. "Waka-chan!"

Kirihara laughed and watched with amusement written all over his face.

Hiyoshi glared up at him in a threatening manner. "Not a word." He pried the little hands off him and said in a gentle but stern voice. "It's class time now."

All the kids immediately put on their "oh yeah" expressions and dashed back to the mats in perfect formation. Hiyoshi smiled.

The teacher nodded and continued the class.

After the kids started their practice again, Kirihara leaned closer with a grin and whispered in his ear, "You're good with kids, Waka-chan."

Hiyoshi glared at the nickname. "Don't call me that." He really loved the kids and only they were allowed to get away with calling him that.

They watched the kids practice for another fifteen minutes before the class was over and they all bowed. The minute they were done, the kids all ran back over to Hiyoshi and tried pulling him onto the mats while yelling in unison, "MATCH! MATCH! MATCH!" Hiyoshi sweat-dropped and Kirihara grinned, helping the kids push Hiyoshi onto the mats. "MATCH!"

Hiyoshi glared at him. "You're not helping." He looked at the kids saying "Not today" which earned him a bunch of pouts.

Kirihara joined the group of pouters. "Come on, Hiyoshi. Are you scared you'll get beat?"

The competitor in Hiyoshi flared. "Yeah, right." He looked determinedly at Watanaka. "Watanaka-sensei, if you would permit?"

The teacher smiled indulgently. "Of course. Please choose your weapon."

Hiyoshi took off his shoes and bowed before entering onto the mats. He went to the weapon cupboard and took out a practice bo like the kids had just been practicing with. Watanaka also picked up his bo he'd just been teaching with and stood opposite him. The kids and Kirihara all waited on the sidelines with big round sparkly eyes.

They had three short matches, all lasting less than a minute. Hiyoshi won each match, his movements precise and graceful. They were the results of a lifetime of practice. When the matches were over, they bowed to each other, and then to their audience.

Kirihara grinned, practically glowing with excitement like the kids when the two finished. The kids scrambled and jumped up and down, asking for more.

Watanaka laughed. "No, no. I think I've been shown my place well enough already." He chuckled good humouredly. "You are a great asset to your family." He patted Hiyoshi's shoulder.

Hiyoshi's face stiffened at the compliment but nodded his head. "Thank you." He turned to the kids, promising he'd come back to visit again soon then put the bo away and said his goodbye's, gesturing for Kirihara to follow him out. Kirihara followed after him, still grinning and looking just like one of the kids.

Once they were back outside and walking away from the house, Hiyoshi turned to Kirihara and asked, "So... were you disappointed?"

Kirihara laughed. "Of course not! That was awesome!"

A bit surprised, the young martial artist chuckled. "Really? I thought you would be since there were no flying thunder attacks."

"That was so much cooler! Though it would have been really awesome to see you do all those kinda attacks too..."

"Those types of things are impossible, but I suppose I could work on it," Hiyoshi joked and shook his head.

"Yes! You have to practice really hard!"

Kirihara's laughter continued and Hiyoshi was very amused, but he was also feeling a little restless. Now that he felt much better, his anxieties about skipping school were catching up to him and he couldn't help but think that if he left now he could still catch his last class. He looked down at his watch.

Kirihara noticed the look and laughed again. "If you want to go, you can, ya goody-two-shoes."

Hiyoshi glared. "Shut up! I was just..." he saw a food stand of some kind not too far away. '"…thinking it was time to get food." He crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly and started walking towards the food stand with his head held high.

Kirihara snickered and followed along beside him with his wide evil trademark grin.

Getting closer, Hiyoshi saw the food was actually crepes and was a little embarrassed but didn't know how to get out of it. "Do you want one?"

Kirihara was still smirking, amused. "Yeah, I like peach ones. What kind do you like?"

"Green tea and red bean." Hiyoshi wondered if since he was the one who asked, if he was supposed to pay, but figured it didn't matter. He always paid for Gakuto, so didn't mind paying now. "Do you want the peach with ice cream or whip cream?"

"Hm... Whip cream sounds good." The other boy always mooched off of his senpai, Jackal, and had no problems mooching off Hiyoshi too.

Hiyoshi nodded and gave the order, then handed Kirihara his crepe. "Here."

He took it with a big grin. "Thank you!"

Hiyoshi shrugged. "You're welcome." then sat down on a nearby bench to eat.

Kirihara sat beside him munching away happily. The close proximity didn't bother Hiyoshi, though it should have. He supposed it was because he was used to Gakuto's lack of knowledge in personal boundaries.

After a few minutes, he looked at Kirihara's already half eaten crepe and chuckled. "Slow down or you're going to get sick."

"Nah, I'll be fine."

Hiyoshi looked to Kirihara's face and had to use a great amount of restraint not to laugh. The entire area around his mouth was smeared with whip cream and he had also somehow managed to get some on his ear and the tip of his nose.

"Um… You got some... on your..." he motioned to his own hair and nose.

Kirihara blinked at him. "Eh?" Then a look of understanding came over him and he licked the area around his mouth in child-like fashion. Chuckling, Hiyoshi pointed again causing Kirihara to cross his eyes to look at the whip cream on his nose.

Rolling his eyes, Hiyoshi took out a nicely folded handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed Kirihara's nose with it to get the whip cream off. "You also have some..." He mimed towards his ear.

Kirihara didn't seem to care, instead attacking his crepe again, finishing it off while getting more on his nose.

Hiyoshi twitched. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Doing what?"

Hiyoshi didn't know whether to laugh or be irritated at the whip cream for looking so... cute. He took hold of Kirihara's head and pulled it closer to his. "Hold still." He gently dabbed the whip cream away, making sure to get all of it, then turned Kirihara's head to the side to get what was on his ear.

Kirihara blinked, big green eyes looked at Hiyoshi curiously until his face was turned away. As soon as his head was released though, he looked back at him again, not aware of just how close their faces would be.

Their faces close, their eyes met. When he'd pulled Kirihara's face closer to him, Hiyoshi hadn't realized how close they had actually become. He gulped nervously and waited for Kirihara to pull away. He didn't. Kirihara just sat there, a breath away with those big green eyes fixated on him. He forgot to think as he further examined Kirihara's emerald shaded eyes with his own rather standard brown ones. "I…"

For some reason, Kirihara didn't want to pull away. He blinked those big eyes that he got from his father and waited.

Hiyoshi finally took a deep breath and slowly scooted back. "I'm... sorry for doing that without permission." He looked away, trying to forget that just happened.

Kirihara sat back a little and realized he was blushing. "It's all good... Um... thanks. I'm not a very neat eater."

Hiyoshi cleared his throat. "Don't you have tennis practice soon?"


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Hiyoshi cleared his throat. "Don't you have tennis practice soon?"

"Yeah, but... I think I'll skip it today." Kirihara stretched out and smiled a little.

"I thought your fukubuchou would give you laps?" Really, Hiyoshi wanted to leave, but at the same time, he didn't. It was very confusing.

"He will. Do… do you want me to leave?" He looked over at him.

"I didn't say that." Hiyoshi crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "I just don't don't want the blame to fall on me if you get in trouble… I don't mind your company."

Kirihara grinned. "It's not a big deal."

"Fine. Let's go then." Hiyoshi started walked again, not sure where he was going, but knowing he didn't want to stay there. "You coming?"

"Where we goin?" Kirihara got up and trotted along after him.

"I don't know." He just kept walking while Kirihara shrugged behind him and followed. He had no idea where he is going but kept on walking anyway since he didn't know what else to do. "Did all your senpai continue on to play in high school?"

"Yeah, we still have the same team, it's awesome. Everyone has gotten so strong now."

"Nn." He didn't have anything to say to that and didn't really care either, but had no idea what else to talk about, still feeling a little awkward.

"What about you guys... Hyotei?"

"Most stayed. Some didn't." 'Great conversationalist you are Hiyoshi' he berated himself. "Haven't you had a game against them yet?"

Kirihara shrugged. "Not yet. We play 'em next week. Though Atobe-san has come over a few times and challenged fukubuchou."

Hiyoshi wondered a bit at that but he'd been out of the loop for a long time. "When is it?"

"On uh, Wednesday at six, I think. It's at Hyotei." He looked over at him. "You gonna come?"

Hiyoshi thought about it. "Maybe. I haven't felt like going to a game since I was forbidden to play." Gakuto usually didn't talk about it either. Probably, it was his own way of attempting to be nice. "I'll think about it."

Kirihara smiled a bit. "It may be good for you to watch again. See how strong we've gotten. I'm going to be playing singles three."

"I suppose it would be nice watching Choutarou play again... and Gakuto is always interesting. I'll have to find out if he's even playing."

"Yeah, it will be a good match. Our matches against Hyotei always are."

"Heh, I wonder if you'll still feel that way after they beat you." Hiyoshi smirked, feeling a little bit of the old school rivalry kick in.

Kirihara snorted. "Yeah right. We're invincible."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. "Sure you are. It wouldn't be the first time Rikkai lost a match to Hyotei." He grinned, referring to their last year in middle school in the prelims.

"Hey! Shuddup, that doesn't count!"

Hiyoshi raised an amused eyebrow. "No? How so?"

"My senpai-tachi weren't around." He nodded. "When they're with me, we won't lose to anyone."

Hiyoshi was almost tempted to bring up second year... almost, but he had his own issues with that. "I guess you'll have to prove it."

"Oh, I will. You better be there to watch me prove it."

Hiyoshi hesitated, but then deflated, consenting. "Deal." Kirihara grinned at him and Hiyoshi smirked, "but since I'm no longer on the team, what do I get if you lose?"

"I'll do whatever you want for a day." Kirihara proclaimed with full confidence.

Hiyoshi raised an amused eyebrow. "You have a lot of faith in your team. Okay, I accept the terms."

"Of course I do! We're the best!" He was almost hopping in place in his excitement.

Hiyoshi laughed. "In that case, I will grant you the same courtesy. If you win your match, I will do what you want for a day." He was almost certain either Oshitari or Kabaji would play singles three. The brat didn't stand a chance.

Kirihara smirked. "Deal."

Though, Hiyoshi was a little wary of that smirk.

They walked on for a ways more, taunting each other with what they would do when they won and making fun of their teammates (or ex-teammates). Loosing track of time, it was a while before they looked around and realized the area had become less and less populated and now they were in an older housing track.

"Huh. Never been here before..." Kirihara said, taking Hiyoshi's hand and walking through the area, looking around curiously.

Hiyoshi wondered why Kirihara took his hand again and blushed. "It's just an old residential area. Let's start walking back or look for a bus stop. It's going to start getting darker in an hour or two." He took out his phone to use the GPS system and cursed. "Shit. The battery died."

"What are you so worried about? Let's check it out. We might find some cool stuff here."

Hiyoshi grumbled. "..'m not worried..." He put his phone away and followed Kirihara who was still holding his hand while looking around at everything curiously, occasionally stopping to stare at one of the old houses.

"The houses are rather small." They looked a little run down too, but it didn't seem like a bad area. "Maybe they have some shops on the other side of that bridge." Hiyoshi pointed to a small stone bridge not far off.

"Let's go check it out." Kirihara said, tugging Hiyoshi along.

They crossed the bridge and saw a few little shops in the area with regular trinket stores and a small market. They all looked to be individually owned local shops.

"Cool!" Kirihara cried, pulling him around to some of the shops, looking at everything with way too much enthusiasm.

"I didn't know this was out here. We must have walked farther than I thought..." Hiyoshi took his time, appreciating the older feel of the area and chuckled a few times at Akaya's excitement. There was nothing he was really interested in buying, but he was enjoying himself nonetheless. Seeing an old couple looking at them strangely, he quickly pulled his hand away from Kirihara's.

Kirihara blinked as Hiyoshi pulled his hand away, but not a second later was already distracted. Leaving Hiyoshi's side, he picked two small objects up with an animated smile and waved them at him. "Nee, Hiyoshi! Let's get these!"

Once Kirihara stopped waving them around like a lunatic, Hiyoshi saw they were two matching phone straps that had tennis balls hanging from them and a bear sitting on each one-one yellow and one blue. Hiyoshi looked at him like he was crazy. "Why should we?"

"Aren't they cool? They're perfect for us!" He was all smiles.

Hiyoshi looked doubtfully at the phone straps then back at Kirihara-san's hopeful face and sighed. "The chipmunk is never going to let me hear the end of this..." he grumbled out. Taking the blue one, he headed towards the register.

Quickly swiping the blue one back from him, Kirihara ran ahead of him to the register and started to pay. Hiyoshi rushed after him. "I can pay for my own." The idea of someone buying something for him was embarrassing.

"I know." Kirihara said but still paid for them himself, grinning happily.

Too late to do anything about it now without making a scene, Hiyoshi glared at him as they walked away from the store. "That really wasn't necessary..."

"I know." He offered the strap to Hiyoshi with a smile.

Hiyoshi took it with a grudging "thank you" and put it in his pocket. "Do you want to look around more or go back? We should at least make sure when the last bus is before it gets dark."

Kirihara put his new strap on his phone as they walked; that big grin still on his face. Hiyoshi wondered if he knew how to have a normal expression that wasn't over exaggerated.

"Did you hear me?"

Kirihara blinked and looked away from his strap. "What?"

Hiyoshi sighed half annoyed, half amused. "Never mind. I'll be right back. Don't move." He backtracked into the store for a minute.

Kirihara remained standing there as told and looked around. He caught an older woman staring at him and waved animatedly with a big childlike grin.

"The bus station is back on the other side of the bridge at the edge of the town. We should get going now since we don't know when the last train leaves or how long it will take to get back. It's also starting to get dark." Hiyoshi supplied, walking back up to him.

Wearing a carefree smile, Kirihara replied, "Don't worry so much. The people here seem nice enough. If we can't get back, I'm sure we can find somewhere to crash for the night. And if all else fails, we can take a taxi."

"I do not "crash" at other people's houses I am not familiar with, and a taxi would be very expensive." Hiyoshi responded practically, not liking how Kirihara was so lighthearted about getting stuck there.

"Why not? It's fun! You learn a lot about people. You scared they're gonna beat you up or something?" He teased since all the people they'd seen so far were older.

"Of course not!" Hiyoshi flared, feeling defensive. "I am more than capable of taking care of myself as you saw earlier at MY dojo. You just can't tell what kind of people these are just by looking at them... Not to mention, it's rude to infringe on other people's private lives unnecessarily." His pace picked up towards the bus stop, feeling frustrated.

Kirihara quickly caught up and took his hand again, giving it a little tug to slow him down. "Hiyoshi, relax... I was just teasing you. I wasn't trying to make you mad..."

Hiyoshi slowed to a stop. He didn't react well when someone attacked his pride as a fighter, especially now that he no longer played tennis. "I'm not mad. We can stay longer if you want." He didn't want to, but he didn't want to seem like such an uptight boring guy either. Even if that's what he was.

"Let's just... not rush, alright? There's always a way home. And, if nothing else, my dad can come pick us up and you can crash at my place tonight."

"Sorry. I suppose I'm not... used to this." Hiyoshi forced himself to say.

"Used to what?" Kirihara asked curiously.

Hiyoshi thought it should be obvious, but… "Being in an unfamiliar setting. Having to rely on someone else since my communication device is out of service." He hated not being able to call someone to pick him up if need be and he noticed that none of those stores back there took credit card.

"You're not relying on someone else. You just gotta rely on yourself. Everything will be fine. You can defend yourself, so nothing bad will happen." Kirihara spoke as if everything he was saying should be obvious, too.

Hiyoshi looked back at him, half wondering if he was still teasing him. That didn't seem to be the case though. A small smile slowly appeared. "You're right."

Kirihara just smiled back at him.

He cleared his throat, liking the way Kirihara was smiling at him. "Let's go back to the..." He stopped when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. They had stopped right at the entrance to the bridge. Many little fish could be seen swimming around in the stream running under it.

Kirihara followed his gaze down to the fish. "Woah, look at em all!" He grinned and tugged at Hiyoshi's hand. "Let's go down and look." He pulled him down under the bridge to get a closer look. Going to the edge of the water, he peered in to look at the fish up close.

Hiyoshi knelt down beside him and watched the fish swimming fast down the stream. "Look, a turtle." He pointed.

"Really?" Kirihara followed his point and grinned. "Wow!"

Hiyoshi watched him, amused, but noticed it was getting harder to see since it was getting dark fast. He straightened up and thought to himself out loud. "We should do this again sometime."

Kirihara stood as well and grinned. "Yeah, we definitely should." They were standing very close together, but Hiyoshi again found he didn't mind at all.

They stayed there, starring at the stream. All Hiyoshi's earlier thoughts of wanting to leave evaporated. Even the night chill starting to set in wasn't really a bother.

Kirihara rested his head on Hiyoshi's shoulder and kept his hand in his. Smiling and closing his eyes, Kirihara's body relaxed against Hiyoshi's side.

Hiyoshi tensed, but then relaxed again at the unexpected weight. His own head slowly gravitated downwards to the side until it was barely leaning against Akaya's, as if to test to make sure it was okay. When Kirihara didn't seem to mind, he closed his eyes as well. He almost felt as if he could fall asleep like this, but knew that was ridiculous since he couldn't sleep outside or with other people around.

After a while of standing there, Hiyoshi gently squeezed Kirihara's hand to get hit attention. "Kirihara... it's getting late. Unless you really do want to call your father, we have to go the bus now."

"You... can call me Akaya ya know..." Hiyoshi's eyes widened, then he heard the other boy sigh. "Dad wouldn't mind coming to get us… and then you can see where I live."

Hiyoshi really didn't want to inconvenience Kirihara's family, and even more didn't want to piss off his own. "I appreciate the offer, but my father will be upset if I don't get home soon and I would really rather avoid that. Some other time... maybe."

Kirihara's smile softened a bit. "Yeah, alright."

Hiyoshi stepped away from their comfortable, if more intimate than he was used to, position. He knew if he wasn't the one pull away first, they wouldn't make it back. The bus station now seemed too close for his liking.

Kirihara started reluctantly back up the hill toward the bus station after him.

Luckily, the busy arrived just a few minutes after they got there. Hiyoshi dug out his change while Kirihara flashed his bus pass to the driver and they made their way to the back of the bus.

Once they were seated, the bus lurched forward and Hiyoshi grimaced. He hated public transportation.

Kirihara watched him and laughed a little. "You look like you'd rather kill yourself than be on this bus."

Hiyoshi shrugged. "If I have to use public transportation, I prefer trains." Preferably in the pre-seating area if there was one. "The only buses I use are Atobe's "school" buses."

"You rich bastards," Kirihara teased.

Hiyoshi looked over at him like the rich bastard he was accused of being and teased back. "Yes."

Kirihara snorted. "So do people at your house call you bocchama and stuff?"

"The people? Oh, you mean the help?" He chuckled. "No. They call me by my name. I've known most of them my whole life. The only person I know who's been called that is Atobe, and uh... maybe Oshitari-sempai."

"Hiyoshi-bocchama… Nah, that sounds weird. Wakashi-bocchama!" He laughed. "Ok, they both sound weird."

Hiyoshi crossed his eyes in annoyance. "Yes, they do. Don't say it again."

"What's the matter Wakashi-bocchama?" Kirihara grinned, teasing and poking him in the side.

Raising an eyebrow, Hiyoshi scooted closer to him menacingly. "What did I just tell you NOT to do?"

Kirihara just smirked at him.

Hiyoshi smirked back pompously and poked him the side, hard.

Kirihara jumped. "Hey!"

"Yes?" Hiyoshi asked with a very bad innocent expression.

"Don't poke me."

"You poked me first."

"So?"

"So, if you don't want to be poked, don't give me the idea."

Kirihara responded to that by sticking his tongue out at him, so Hiyoshi poked him again. Kirihara flailed.

"No fighting on the bus!" The bus driver called back to them.

Hiyoshi's cheeks flushed. They were probably making a bit of a scene, and his position so close to Kirihara would be cause enough to raise a few questions. He scooted back, embarrassed, but still with a small smile on his face.

Kirihara wiggled away from him, pouting, but stuck his tongue out at him again. This only made Hiyoshi's grin widen and made him want to poke him again.

It felt like only a second later, Hiyoshi was jolted awake from a small doze when their destination was announced to be coming up. "Kirihara, our stop is next."

Kirihara let out a little snore.

"Kirihara." Hiyoshi called again, shaking his shoulder.

All he did in response was let out a small little moan and murmur Hiyoshi's name under his breath.

Hiyoshi's eyebrows creased. Casting a quick glance up to see nobody looking back at them, he gulped nervously as he looked back at his sleeping friend. Slowly, his hand trailed from shoulder, to his neck, ghosting over his cheek...

The old bus came to a screeching halt and they both jerked forward. Being so close to him, Kirihara was flung right into Hiyoshi's arms.

Kirihara blinked awake and opened his eyes slowly. "Eh...? Are we there?"

Hiyoshi nodded like a deer caught in the headlights.

The bus driver called out. "Are you kids getting out? This is our last stop."

Hurriedly letting go of him, Hiyoshi got to his feet and hastily made for the exit.

Kirihara only had a moment to wonder why he was in the other's arms and then he was stumbling after him.

Shinjuku station was very crowded, as usual. The normalcy of being back in familiar territory helped Hiyoshi to quickly compose himself. "You're taking Odakyu-sen, right? I'm on Chuo, so... Are we still on for Wednesday?"

"Yeah, of course..." Kirihara ran a hand through his hair and stretched. "I'll uh... I'll see you later."

Hiyoshi nodded. "See you then." He stood there for a second longer, wondering if he should say something else, but there was nothing else to say. Mentally reprimanding himself for being such an idiot, he finally turned and left, not chancing a look back for Kirihara to see the red still on his cheeks.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Hiyoshi arrived early to the Hyotei versus Rikkai match out of habit. As he wandered by the Hyotei locker room, he found the team walking to the courts. When he saw the familiar uniforms and determined expressions, a spike of envy made him hesitate.

"Yo, Piyo-chan! You came!" Gakuto shouted in his direction, making him wince. Choutarou waved, Oshitari smirked, Shishido snorted, and Atobe did his stupid insight thing. Everyone else turned to look at him with different levels of surprise or indifference. Rolling his eyes, he turned away and walked towards the court.

Kirihara was in the locker room with his team, getting on his game face and getting ready to annihilate Hyotei, looking really fired up. He walked out with his team, standing just to the side of the three demons, his eyes dark and serious. He could hear the calls of Hyotei and Rikkai's teams mixed and raised his head a bit more, bright yellow jersey moving in the wind with his curly hair.

Spotting Kirihara with his team, Hiyoshi chuckled seeing the familiar expression and attitude before a game. He stopped with his arms crossed and a trained indifferent expression as the Rikkai team passed by him. He tried not let his attention stray to just Kirihara for too long.

Kirihara glanced over at Hiyoshi, picking him out of the crowd immediately. He didn't smile like he normally would but did lift his fingers in a little "V" then kept walking, a small evil smirk finding its way onto his face.

Hiyoshi went to the side area of the courts, away from the crowds. He hoped to avoid the cheerers and other club members as much as possible.

The first match would be Hyotei Gakuen's Mukahi & Issou pair versus Rikkaidai's Marui & Kuwahara pair. Following that was the Shishido & Ohtori pair versus the Niou & Yagyuu pair.

Kirihara watched the doubles matches, eyes following the movements, taking in everything with complete focus. He frowned when Marui and Kuwahara lost, but was on his feet cheering when Niou and Yagyuu took the win.

Hiyoshi was proud of his ex-doubles partner. Gakuto had come a long way from one of the supposed under dogs of the team back in middle school. He'd obviously been training very hard over the last two years, and his new doubles partner Issou was a good match for him. Contrary to those thoughts, during Choutarou's match, he'd felt like killing something. He itched for his racket so bad that he'd had to literally keep himself from jumping onto the court and pummeling both of them. Shishido, for being an ass. Choutarou, for being an idiot. If he'd been on the team…He caught sight of Kirihara and his thoughts changed focus.

"Win, Akaya."

"Roger that, Fukubuchou," the junior ace replied and looked at Hiyoshi with a confident smirk, eyes sparking with excitement before standing and pulling off his jersey jacket.

Hiyoshi answered a smirk with one of his own then looked over to see who he was playing. His smirk widened. He was playing Oshitari. Kirihara was really going to have to work for it.

As they both walked out onto the court, Hiyoshi could almost feel the competitive aggression in Kirihara's stance. Oshitari just looked like he was about to play a very interesting chess match.

"Nice to see you again, Kirihara-kun." Oshitari extended his hand. "Or is it Medusa boy?" he chuckled good-humouredly.

Kirihara shook his hand in a crushing grip and glared at him. "Watch your mouth, you backwater weirdo," saying it with a little sneer. He turned back to walk to the baseline, his racket over his shoulder, determined to crush the cocky tensai.

Oshitari, not at all put off, called out to him, "Thank you for bringing our Hiyo-chan with you!" He smirked satisfactorily as he assumed his position, ready to play.

At Oshitari's loud words, his statement swept through the crowd, immediately causing a backlash of murmurs. Hiyoshi felt like killing a certain tensai and crawling into a hole. He was very glad he'd opted out of sitting in the bleachers.

Kirihara glared at Oshitari and served hard and fast, the unpredictable knuckle serve racing over the net at rocket speeds.

Predicting such a response, the tensai did not immediately go for the serve and let it fly by him, missing him.

To Hiyoshi, it was already obvious what was happening. His tensai sempai liked to play mind games with his opponents, and Kirihara was one of the simplest minded people he knew. If Kirihara was pushed, he may lose his focus. Then again, he might also end up killing Oshitari. After that comment though, and still hearing the gossip vultures whispering in the stands, Hiyoshi was completely okay with Kirihara killing the blue-haired bastard.

Kirihara growled at Oshitari and served again, waiting for the other to start fighting back, but his opponent just smiled that irritating knowing grin and once again missed the serve on purpose. Cursing in frustration, he served again, this time aiming for Oshitari.

Oshitari had been waiting for that. He knew if he egged the temperamental boy on enough, the knuckle serve, which was difficult to predict, would then be directed at him. Now he had a general idea of where the serve was going to hit and be able to return it. Perhaps it was a somewhat unreasonably dangerous tactic, but where was the fun without a little danger? He sent the ball back over the net.

Kirihara returned the ball as hard as he could. Before the end of the first game, his eyes had already started turning red.

When the time came to change courts, except for a few minor scratches, Oshitari was still in one piece. As they passed each other, Oshitari made it a point to tease in a sickeningly sweet voice, "Please forgive me Kirihara-kun, if I've upset you. I'm sure we can find you a doctor if your case of red eye becomes permanent."

"Go to hell, blue haired freak." He replied simply and walked over to the other side of the court, hearing the cheers of some of his senpai.

Hiyoshi spotted Gakuto jumping up and down in excitement and had to smile for his old team. He was a little concerned about Kirihara's temper though. Usually, the idiot's temper didn't go off quite this fast.

Before getting into position on his side of the court, Oshitari grinned at Kirihara again then winked at Hiyoshi as he walked by him.

Kirihara growled and gripped his racket tightly.

Sanada stood and frowned, eyebrows furrowing. "It's coming..."

"Eh? This early?" Marui asked surprised.

"It seems Oshitari-san has found a sore spot." Yagyuu added with a grim expression.

Niou laughed. "Yeah, one even Aka-chan wasn't aware of."

Satisfied at the situation, Oshitari strengthened his grip and readied himself for what he knew was likely to happen next. He sent a hard but straightforward serve to test the situation first.

Kirihara hit it back, aiming right at Oshitari's face, his skin dying itself red as he did. "I'll make you red too you son of a bitch." He didn't understand why he was bothered so much, but he couldn't help it.

The attack was too sudden, and Oshitari barely escaped in time. It left a small cut on his cheek. His smile turned to a serious frown as he re-evaluated his opponent and got back into position.

Kirihara raised his racket at Oshitari, challenging him as he laughed evilly. "Let's go."

Oshitari just smirked, actually excited by the challenge. "Shall we?"

"Bastard..." Kirihara gripped his racket tightly and glared over the net at Oshitari, his eyes red and focused.

Oshitari tried to take that focus away as much as possible. Altering between graceful tensai moves meant to confuse, trying not to get killed by his opponent's vicious attacks, and teasing remarks meant to aggravate him even further. One small miscalculation resulted in a hit on his upper thigh. "I do hope your little training sessions with our Hiyo-chan doesn't result in such abuse," he commented while trying to hide a grimace.

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow as he was mentioned again. What did it matter if Kirihara ever got serious on him like that? If the idiot ever tried that shit on him, he'd be more than capable of taking care of himself. He was irritated that Oshitari would even mention it. Wait... How did he know they trained together? And what the hell was wrong with Kirihara, anyway? Why did he get so worked up that fast in the first place?

"You just don't shut the fuck up, do you?" Aiming for him mercilessly, Kirihara did his best to bring him to his knees. He aimed for his face, his knees, anything and everything he could to bring the cocky tensai down.

Oshitari could see Kirihara was now solely aiming at him which made it much easier to anticipate his shots, but also made the situation significantly more dangerous. Thankfully, control being one of his greater skills, he was able to maintain his composure and use it to his advantage. Kirihara's own control slipped farther and farther until the game was finally drawing to an end.

Hiyoshi heard the Hyotei cheers becoming louder and louder as opposed to Rikkai's as it became obvious who was going to win. He wondered if Kirihara like this even noticed it was almost over.

Kirihara managed to drag them into a tiebreak, but he wasn't even aware of the score. He missed one of the shots and slid on the court, face first. He managed to push himself up with a quiet curse, but froze on his hands and knees when he heard the announcer give the score, "Game set. Won by Oshitari, 7 games to 5." He dragged his fingers over the court, then slowly stood and walked over with his head hung to shake his opponent's hand. The red demonic skin was long gone, replaced instead by a look somewhere between depression and fury.

Oshitari shook Kirihara's hand with a grin, looking every bit as beat up and worn out as Kirihara did. "Good game. I hope to play you again once you've worked on your control, and maybe your temper." He winked good-humoredly then turned back to where his teammates were cheering his name.

Hiyoshi wasn't sure if he was pleased or disappointed with the outcome, but was glad the match was over. The Hyotei in him was proud, but he understood with clarity the disappointment Kirihara was feeling. He saw Jiroh at the side getting ready for his match, but walked closer to the Rikkai benches, curious how Kirihara was taking the loss.

Formalities completed, Kirihara walked over to the bench where his own team was waiting with frowns and disapproval. He knew why no one, except the demons, were looking at him. He walked over to Sanada obediently, "Sorry, fukubuchou… I—I failed..." He didn't even have time to brace himself before the back of Sanada's hand landed hard against his cheek, sending him falling to the ground again.

Everyone on the Rikkai bench, except the 'big three,' winced at the familiar sound. With only one word, Sanada gestured to the bench, "Sit." Slowly, Kirihara climbed to his feet again and trudged over to sit next to Niou, his head hanging and his eyes focusing on anything that wasn't Hiyoshi.

"Come on," Niou murmured quietly and opened the first aid kit, "Let's get you cleaned up." He murmured and started tending to his kohai's wounds.

It wasn't Hiyoshi's place to interfere and talk to Kirihara, so he left the area to get a drink before going back to watch the rest of the matches. The games seemed to go by almost too quickly with Sanada playing against Jiroh in doubles two, winning his match and clearing the way for Yukimura to win his match as well, giving Rikkai the win.

Hiyoshi sighed in disappointment and regret at Hyotei's loss, but he couldn't help but wonder if his presence on the team would have made any difference. He watched with a strong sense of regret as the teams lined up and bowed respectfully to each other.

As he watched the teams head back to their locker rooms, he himself headed back towards the school.

All of Rikkai started back toward the locker rooms, except Kirihara. He wandered off where he'd seen Hiyoshi leave to, towards the school. Not sure where he was going, he sat on a school fence, feet swinging and head hanging. "Damn it..." he murmured, wiping at his face with his jersey.

Hiyoshi found him there not long after, and walked over to stand by him without saying anything.

"I fucked up..." he mumbled, feeling Hiyoshi standing near him, though not sure how. Maybe it was the way he got that weird feeling in his chest when the other was around. "So... I'll be your slave for a day, just like we agreed..."

"Actually, that wasn't the deal. You only had to be my slave if Hyotei won." Hiyoshi sighed and went to stand in front of him, taking his chin into his hand to make him look up at him. Examining his beat up face, he smirked. "You took a pretty hard fall at the end, and your vice captain doesn't hold back much."

"I lost… You won, alright?" The fallen player said unhappily, turning his eyes away from him. "It's alright, I'm used to it. I've had a lot worse than this..."

Hiyoshi took in his glum appearance and decided immediately he didn't like it. Brushing Kirihara's hair out of his face, he settled his hand gently on his un-bruised cheek. "So... are you saying you want to be my slave?" He grinned. "I certainly won't turn down the offer."

Kirihara blinked, looking up to him at the touch and finally smiled a bit. "Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head. Next time you'll be my slave."

"Don't be so sure about that." Glad to see the demon's smile again, Hiyoshi took his hand away and held it out to help him up. "You need a shower. You smell awful."

"Yeah," Kirihara laughed, "alright. So, 'master'… When am I going to be your slave? Hm?"

Hiyoshi didn't mind being called that at all. "Hm..." He hadn't really thought that far, and they usually only met up on Wednesday's. "Are you free this Sunday?"

"Yeah... You wanna hang out on Sunday?"

Hiyoshi rolled eyes. "Would I have asked if I didn't, idiot?"

"I guess not."

The idiot looked so pathetic that Hiyoshi was having an awkward moment where he just wanted to hold his hand and bring him closer... which was a really, really, really, stupid idea. "Right. So stop moping here like a brat and go celebrate with your team." He glared. "Bastards."

Kirihara stepped closer and wrapped him in a quick hug. "Yeah... Though, I still have laps tomorrow..." He sighed a little.

"Good, you deserve them." Hiyoshi's heart seemed to jump in his chest when Kirihara came so close of his own volition. Awkwardly, he forced himself to wrap an arm around Kirihara and held him back for only a moment before letting him go and backing away, looking to the side embarrassed. "Come on. I'll take you back to your team so you don't get lost."

"Shut up," the other boy teased and took his hand again. "Alright, let's go."

Hiyoshi honestly didn't want to, but he squeezed Kirihara's hand lightly before releasing it and gestured towards the guest locker rooms. "It's this way." He put his hands in his pockets so the Rikkai boy wouldn't try to take it again. If anyone caught them, the rumors would spread like wild fire through the whole campus by the next morning.

Kirihara blinked as the hand was pulled away and put his hands in his pockets as well, feeling depressed all over again, though he wasn't sure why.

When they arrived just a little ways away from the guest locker room, Hiyoshi stopped. He thought it smarter not to get any closer, just in case to avoid being seen together. "I'll see you Sunday."

Kirihara didn't even pause, feeling frustrated for some reason. "Yeah... I'll meet you in the usual spot." He turned around, walking into the locker room, not looking back.

Hiyoshi watched him, waiting for him to go in with a complex look on his face. Once the other boy disappeared from view, he let out his own frustrated sigh, then left.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Around noon on the day they were supposed to meet, Hiyoshi texted Kirihara. "I'll meet you at two. Don't be late and bring an extra set of clothes you don't mind getting dirty."

It took almost twenty minutes for him to receive the response "ok." This concerned him since Kirihara never gave short one word answers, not without some sort of odd face to go along with it. "What's wrong?" He texted back.

"Nothing."

"Are you technically already my slave?"

"I guess, yeah."

He was going to demand he tell him what was wrong, but in the end didn't want to force him. Instead Hiyoshi put his phone away and got ready to meet him. Hopefully, whatever was wrong would be taken care of before they met up.

Hiyoshi arrived on time at the park and sat down to read. Even though he'd told Kirihara not to be late, he knew there was little chance of it actually not happening. He chuckled to himself, remembering the multiple times the demon boy had come running to meet him, out of breath and with a huge grin on his face with some excuse or another.

Only about five minutes passed when Kirihara showed up, casually dressed with a backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey... sorry, I took the wrong bus..."

That hadn't been the kind of arrival he'd expected. Hiyoshi closed his book and stood, looking him over. He still seemed troubled over something. Perhaps he was still disappointed over the match? That was the only reason he could think of. "Alright, let's go. Follow me." All he got was a nod.

Since Kirihara didn't seem to want to talk, Hiyoshi remained silent, giving him his space. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. He led him down a series of streets that should've looked familiar to Kirihara, but he didn't know if the Rikkai boy paid attention last time and he certainly didn't seem to be paying attention this time, looking down with his hands in his pockets. It seemed to take forever to get to their destination without Kirihara's mindless chatter taking up the dull time in between. They stopped in front of the house they'd been to a few weeks ago. This was where a family who worked for his family lived and ran a dojo. He opened the gate and gestured for Kirihara to go in.

Kirihara looked at the house curiously then went through the gates. "What are we here for?"

Hiyoshi smirked. "You're going to do some training."

Unlike the previous time, Hiyoshi knocked on the front door and waited patiently for Watanaka-san to answer. "Hiyoshi-kun, welcome back. The room is all ready for you." She appeared at the door a moment later, opening it for them with a welcoming smile.

Bowing politely and thanking her, Hiyoshi walked into the house with Kirihara at his heels. "Thank you for letting us use the area on your day off. I promise we will not disturb you."

"It's no problem at all. Thank you for volunteering to help. Let me know if you need anything."

Hiyoshi nodded and thanked her again, then gestured for Kirihara to follow him further inside.

Kirihara bowed as well when they walked in, and then blinked at Hiyoshi. "Training? What kind of training?"

"You'll see." Hiyoshi led them into the dojo training hall which was now completely empty save them, some mats, and a few towels. He turned on the lights and closed the door behind them. "Go ahead and change into your extra clothes."

Kirihara nodded a little then started changing, confused as hell.

While Kirihara changed, Hiyoshi went to get one of the cleaning towels and filled a bucket with some water and soap. He wrung the towel out then brought it over to his friend. "You're going to clean the dojo floor for me. Watch closely." Going to one end of the dojo, he demonstrated how to properly clean it by getting on his hands and knees and scrubbing from one side to the other. "Use this to clean the dojo floor. Do a good job and don't miss anything. I'll be right there watching you so don't think you can get out of it." He handed him the towel, then went over to a corner.

Diligently cleaning the dojo floor was one of the very first things a student had to train to do. It helped focus the mind and teach patience. Perhaps he was being silly having Kirihara do it, and thinking it might help him, but it was one of Hiyoshi's chores that week, and Kirihara was his slave for the day. Sitting, he pulled back out his book and started to read.

Taking the towel and looking around confused, Kirihara looked down at the towel then went over to start cleaning the floor as instructed. "Uh... Okay..."

Hiyoshi half read his book while half watching Kirihara work. Whenever he lost a match badly he always came here. Cleaning the floors had always for some reason emptied his mind and helped him to think. Then, afterward, he could let loose his anger on the mats. He had no idea if the same would do any good for Kirihara at all, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to try. He went back to reading his book.

Kirihara cursed a little mentally but did it anyway. He wanted to complain that this was a stupid thing to make him do, but he didn't have a choice. He'd lost. Soon, he'd forgotten about that though since he was trying so hard to clean the stupid floor. By the time he was finished, he was covered in sweat. Cleaning wooden floors was hard work. "Now what, Master?" He flopped onto the now clean floor, spent.

Closing his book, Hiyoshi looked at the floor with meticulous eyes. "Not bad. The third levels could have done better, but not bad." With that, he gestured him over to the matted area and stood waiting for him in the middle. "Why did you lose your focus so early in the game against Oshitari?"

Kirihara followed Hiyoshi onto the mat curiously, shrugging at the question then looked away. "He kept saying things..."

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So your temper got the better of you?"

"Something like that... I guess..." he answered a little annoyed. Why was he asking him this?

Shaking his head, Hiyoshi stepped forward and easily knocked Kirihara onto the mats, careful that he landed in a way that wouldn't hurt him. "So what was it then?"

Kirihara blinked as he landed on his back on the mats, surprised it hadn't hurt at all and wondering why the hell he'd done that. "He... I don't know why I got mad..." He looked anywhere but up at Hiyoshi, not wanting to talk about this, but… "He just... kept saying things about you..."

That made no sense to Hiyoshi at all, so he gave Kirihara a blank expression and waited for him to say anything else or at least look at him again. He wanted to let him think about it on his own.

Kirihara had a feeling that if he tried to get up, Hiyoshi would just knock him down again. Laying there with a crazy ninja towering over him, Kirihara was forced to think and respond. "They... they made me so mad... I-I couldn't think... and... before I realized it… I was already in demon mode..."

Why would someone insulting him matter to Kirihara? Not understanding, Hiyoshi sighed and knelt down to lay on his back next to him, looking up at the ceiling. "It doesn't matter what anyone says about me. I don't care about other's judgments and neither should you."

"It just... It just pissed me off..." Kirihara mumbled and rolled to his side to look at Hiyoshi. At least the other didn't seem to be on his crazy power trip anymore.

"You're an idiot. There, I insulted you. Are you going to go demon mode on me?" Hiyoshi rolled his eyes at him. "You know, I could take you like that." He smirked with complete confidence. "I'm not a weakling like some of your opponents."

"I don't care when people insult me..." Kirihara shrugged, "And... I don't want to play you like that. I'll hurt you... I don't want that." He really meant it. The idea of hurting Hiyoshi… it hurt.

More than anything, Hiyoshi hated being underestimated. He snarled at the demeaning words and grabbed him, pulling Kirihara closer and looking him straight in the eyes. "You CAN'T hurt me." He was getting pissed at the way Kirihara was acting. The whole situation nagged at him. That Kirihara would be more upset about someone insulting him than himself made no sense. Plus, that insinuated Kirihara lost because of him and that pissed him off even more.

He rolled the boy on top of him, and then expertly threw him over him and across the mats. He was again careful not to hurt him, trusting that he could take a fall, wanting to show him exactly how strong he was. On his feet again, following after him quickly before Kirihara could get his bearings, Hiyoshi held him down, now the one on top. "You're not making any sense."

Kirihara's eyes widened as he was thrown around and stared up at Hiyoshi as he pinned him down. "Hi-Hiyoshi..." He looked into the other boy's eyes and wondered for the hundredth time… That Oshitari bastard had never actually insulted his friend, so why had he gotten so upset?

Hiyoshi growled under his breath. "Do you think you can defeat me right now?" He held him down tighter. "What exactly did he say to you? Is that why you've been pissed off at me since the match? Do you think it's my fault?"

Swallowing thickly, Kirihara looked almost scared. "I-I'm not mad at you… It's my own fault I lost. Why do you think I'm mad at you?"

Seeing the fear in Kirihara's eyes, Hiyoshi immediately relaxed his grip, but didn't move off him. Feeling guilty, he said in a calmer voice, "I could tell after the match you were upset, but when you left... and you haven't texted me since." Usually, the annoying idiot bothered him in class constantly. "And the way you've been acting today… Now you tell me you lost your match because of something Oshitari said about ME. What the hell else am I supposed to think?"

Kirihara looked away with a small flush on his cheeks. "S-sorry... just... It's been bothering me, not knowing why he made me so mad. And I-I didn't mean to act weird..." but when Hiyoshi had let go of his hand after the match, and about all the other things that had confused him... "I'm not mad at you, but… I-I'm confused. When you're around... my chest gets all fluttery... and-and... I dunno... It just bothered me when he was saying things about you and winking at you like that..."

"Winking at me?" Hiyoshi looked at him in confusion. "Why would you..." He froze, remembering Choutarou saying something about hearts getting fluttery, but that was impossible. He cleared his throat and rolled off him. There was silence for a moment before he continued. "Sorry. If I scared you..."

"It's... It's alright." Kirihara said nervously, sitting up and pulling his knees to his chest before glancing over at Hiyoshi. "Are-are you mad at me?"

Hiyoshi glared, annoyed at the question and bit out angrier than intended. "Of course not, idiot!"

Wincing a little, Kirihara rested his head on his knees. He didn't believe for a minute that his mushroom friend wasn't mad at him. "S-sorry... nah... Hiyoshi..." Since Hiyoshi was already mad at him, maybe it was a good time to ask about what he'd been thinking for a while. Then Hiyoshi wouldn't have to get mad him twice… "My-my mom said... when your heart flutters like this..." he touched his own chest "…around someone... It means you like them..."

Hiyoshi coughed, feeling a mental panic attack coming on. He looked down at the mats self-consciously. "Do you think... that's what it is?"

"…Are you going to stop playing tennis with me?" Kirihara asked worriedly. What if Hiyoshi decided to stop hanging out with him if it was?

Hiyoshi was going to turn into a tomato and explode any minute now "No..."

Kirihara gripped his shirt and looked at Hiyoshi intently "Really?"

That's when Hiyoshi finally did explode, causing Kirihara to jump back from him in surprise. "FUCK! I said NO! What the hell are you thinking?" He was trying not to hyperventilate and couldn't seem to look him in the eye. "Sorry... I just wasn't expecting this."

"I uh... I'm sorry..."

When did you become this pathetic, Wakashi? Hiyoshi wondered before forcing himself to look up at Kirihara with a twin pair of solemn dark brown eyes. "Are you sure?"

Kirihara nodded. He hadn't been before, but it all made sense now. "Yeah... I've been thinking about it ever since that match..."

Hiyoshi nodded back before looking away again, thinking. He had never been faced with this before from someone whom he may actually like back. The thought terrified him. Standing abruptly, he commanded, "Get changed. We're leaving." He needed to get them out of the privacy of the dojo before he said or did something he regretted.

Confused, Kirihara blinked and stood as well. "Hiyoshi...?"

Hiyoshi winced at his own tone. "Kirihara, get changed, please," he tried a little more gently.

Kirihara nodded a bit and went over to start changing.

Hiyoshi's entire day plan was gone. All thoughts were now occupied on trying to figure out what the hell to do. 'I must seem like a crazy idiot right now,' he thought and turned around to see Kirihara's back as he's changed. He took a moment to study his strong back for a moment then his searching gaze traveled upward to get another glimpse of his face as he turned around. There was nothing to be confused about, he had known for a while, but… "Kirihara..." his face reddened and he looked over at the opposing wall, "I think I may like you, too..."

Kirihara paused with his shirt in his hands and looked over at him with wide unbelieving eyes. "Y-you... do?"

Hiyoshi nodded red-cheeked, then realized Kirihara may not be looking at him, but couldn't bring himself to look at him to see. In a quiet, timid voice he answered "Yes" then got mad at himself again for not being straightforward. He turned around to face him and looked him straight in the eyes stubbornly. "Yes. I like you."

Kirihara swallowed down the lump in his throat and walked over to him, still holding his shirt in one hand at his side. "Hiyoshi..."

Hiyoshi tried to keep his voice hard and strong as Kirihara approached him. "Is that a problem?"

All Kirihara could do was shake his head and hug him.

It was so unexpected. Hiyoshi stumbled into the hug, every muscle in his body tense. He hesitated, then wrapped his arms around him in return, trying to figure out the proper way to hug him back since he wasn't used to hugging people.

Kirihara held him close, embarrassed but happy. He kissed Hiyoshi's cheek gently, letting his lips linger there, not sure what was okay.

Surprised by the kiss, feeling those lips on his skin, Hiyoshi sucked in a breath. "Am I... still your master for today?"

Curls bounced as the other boy nodded. "Of course..."

"Then... do that again?" Hiyoshi smirked.

Kirihara blinked, his smile grew and he leaned forward to kiss his other cheek.

Hiyoshi could feel himself smiling back as Kirihara pulled away again. His hand moved up to the back of his neck, inching him closer until he was only a hair's breath away. "May I...?" he asked nervously. He didn't think he'd ever been so nervous in his life.

The curly haired boy's heart pounded loudly, his eyes slowly closing as Hiyoshi's lips came closer. "Yeah..."

With palms sweating and heart pounding, Hiyoshi leaned in, hesitating just a moment to give him one last chance to back out. Tilting his head to the side slightly, he closed his eyes and pressed their lips softly together.

Kirihara shivered and pressed his lips back against Hiyoshi's in a chaste, but oh so wonderful kiss that made his heart flip and feel like it was going to burst.

Hiyoshi meant to keep it brief, really, but when Kirihara responded… that somehow bypassed his intentions and he lingered, willing the moment to continue. It was so very different than every other kiss he'd ever received. Any clinging doubts about how he felt for the idiot disappeared as he returned the kiss, careful not to take it any further and kept his hands steady.

Kirihara hesitantly licked at his bottom lip and wrapped his arms tighter around his mushroom. His brain was too fuzzy and warm to think and he just wanted Hiyoshi to keep holding him.

Hiyoshi finally pulled back for a moment, breathing hard, brain scrambling for coherent thought. He looked at Kirihara with a questioning look in his eyes. "Have you done this before...?"

"K-kissed someone...?" Kirihara looked at him with flushed cheeks.

Hiyoshi blushed deeper, if possible, idly playing with the hairs at the back of the boy he was so fond of's neck, rubbing his thumb over warm skin. "Yeah..."

"Yeah... When I was a first year..." was the mumbled answer.

Hiyoshi smiled, thinking he was really cute when embarrassed. He leaned in and softly caught his lips again. When Kirihara groaned quietly and kissed him back warmly, his heart felt like it was flying.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Hiyoshi's heart was racing a mile a minute as there lips continued to meet in soft experimental kisses. Instinct was telling him to pull Kirihara even closer, but another part of him was worried. He didn't know how far they should take this. Pulling back, he could still feel the other's breath on his lips as he whispered breathily, "We should stop…"

"I... yeah..." Akaya's heart was pounding, and his chest heaving. He knew they should stop… but that meant… stopping.

Hiyoshi enjoyed the closeness for a second longer, then sighed and stepped back. He took one of Kirihara's hands in his, blushing. "You... okay?"

Akaya swallowed hard. "Yeah..."

Looking down at that blushing face, it suddenly hit him that Kirihara-san actually really liked him back. It wasn't a joke, or some kind of dream. "Let's go somewhere we can talk. I don't think here is very appropriate."

Smiling a little, Akaya nodded. "Okay," then offered his hand out to him. "Let's go."

Hiyoshi took his hand and looked around to make sure everything was in proper order, and then led them out, only stopping briefly to tell the lady of the house they were leaving. She gave him a confused expression when she saw they were holding hands, but politely didn't say anything,

Needing to find a private place for them to talk, away from prying eyes, Hiyoshi led Kirihara to a nearby privately owned tea café. He sometimes frequented it when he was in the area. It was small, run by an older gentleman who had a grouchy look to him, though he was actually quite likable. It wasn't very popular with the younger crowds and was mostly empty during the day. As they sat at a table in a corner, Hiyoshi asked, "Is this okay? I come here sometimes... No one will disturb us."

Akaya looked around curiously, chiming happily as he took a seat across from Hiyoshi, "Yeah, it looks good. What do you usually get here?"

"Usually just the Oolong Tea, but you can have whatever you want. I've heard the milk tea is good."

"Really? I'll try that then." Akaya was all smiles. He was still a little nervous about everything, but he was sure it would figure itself out. He also wondered when he'd be able to kiss Hiyoshi again. The thought made his smile widen.

Hiyoshi couldn't help returning the smile with a small one of his own. He waved to the owner indicating they were ready to order. He then turned back to Kirihara, but wasn't sure what to say. What were you supposed to say in this situation? "Do you know what I'm supposed to say now?"

"Supposed to say?" Akaya blinked.

The owner arrived a moment later to give them their order. Hiyoshi could feel his face start to heat up as he took a drink of his very hot tea, wincing as it burned his tongue. "We just said that we like each other..."

Akaya sipped at his milk tea with a grin. "Yeah...?"

"Isn't there some kind of process you're supposed to follow after that?"

"Process?" Akaya laughed. "It's not a business deal Hiyoshi."

Hiyoshi turned even more red and crossed his arms. "Well, how am I supposed to know? You're the one who had "experience" in their first year."

"Haven't you watched movies or drama's before?" It was really cute how stern Hiyoshi looked right then and how serious he was. He was just too fun to tease.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. "Don't be an idiot. None of that is real."

"Yeah, but the concepts are."

"So you're saying I'm supposed sweep you off your feet and take you to ice cream every day and then an evil third party or ex will try to come between us?"

"Yup!"

Hiyoshi kicked him under the table.

Akaya jumped a little. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You're an idiot."

"It's not that far fetched." Akaya shrugged and looked down at the table.

"Oh? You have someone in mind already? Or do you just want the ice cream?" Hiyoshi asked amusedly.

Akaya flinched and looked down. He didn't like that question… Maybe he shouldn't have brought it up. "Ice cream..."

Hiyoshi had intended that as a joke, but obviously Kirihara hadn't. He sighed and sipped at his tea for a moment before stating calmly. "I don't care who you've been with before."

"You sure?" Akaya asked, wide eyed, not believing him.

Hiyoshi shrugged. "I don't have an especially clean slate either."

"Really?"

"Does that bother you?"

"No, but I'm curious now."

Hiyoshi twitched, wishing he hadn't said anything. "It doesn't matter. I've never been in a real relationship."

"Oh... Well, alright then..."

There was an awkward silence after that, but Hiyoshi was glad to let that subject drop. Instead, he went for the straightforward approach for what he really wanted to know. "So… Are you my boyfriend now?" he asked with stone faced seriousness.

Akaya blinked and looked at him. "Do you want me to be?"

Hiyoshi hated it when a question was answered with another question, damn it. Now he was second guessing himself and shrunk back internally. He'd thought that's what happened when two people liked each other… and kissed the way they did. "If you're having second thoughts..." He tried to look like he didn't care either way. "Do you want me to be?"

"Of course I'm not having second thoughts." Akaya smiled a little nervously. "I-just didn't know if that's what you wanted..."

A little smile was now starting to tug at the corners of Hiyoshi's mouth again. "You didn't answer the question."

Akaya smiled shyly and looked down at what was left of his tea with a small blush. "Yeah."

"Good." Hiyoshi answered automatically. But, wait… had he meant "yeah" I didn't answer the question? Or "yeah" I do want you to be my boyfriend? Damn it, he hated himself sometimes... He just really embarrassed himself. "I mean… I do. Ugh… I mean… No. You... Fuck it. I want you to be my boyfriend." He glared at him challengingly.

Akaya stared at him for a moment, then black curls bounced as he threw his head back and laughed. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking, he leaned across the table to kiss him, as he'd wanted to do ever since they got here.

Hiyoshi's eyes shot open at the unexpected move. They then softened as he half dragged Kirihara around and over to his side of the table. Soon he was practically in his lap. His hands went instinctively to Kirihara's hips as he tilted his head and kissed him back slowly and purposefully.

Akaya laughed into the kiss as he was pulled over to the other side of the table, not complaining at all. He kissed him back with a quiet content groan.

Hiyoshi smirked at the sounds Kirihara was making and bit down teasingly at his lips before letting him go and placing him more comfortably next to him. "You shouldn't make such a scene in a public place." He smirked and finished off his tea, which by then had gone cold. He looked around as he did and saw that no one was seated anywhere near where they could have been seen... except maybe the owner. He winced, hoping he'd missed that.

Akaya snorted. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."

"Warning, I've never had a boyfriend before, so don't get pissed if I fuck up once or twice." Hiyoshi said shyly but with a small smirk.

"I haven't either. So same goes for me, alright?"

Hiyoshi nodded. "I thought you mentioned an evil third party. It's not an ex?" He purposefully worded it so Kirihara wouldn't have to directly answer if he didn't want to.

Akaya laughed. "Nah, you don't gotta worry about ex's. At least… not on the guys front."

Hiyoshi was curious, but wasn't going to pry. He only nodded, and then changed the subject. "Well, despite the change in status, you're still my slave today. I've been fairly lenient up till now."

"Yes, sir." Akaya laughed.

"Shall we get going then?" Hiyoshi smirked as he pushed Kirihara out of the booth so he could stand. "Thank you for the snack by the way, since it's on you."

Akaya stuck his tongue out at him. "Yeah, yeah, alright," he whined, but when he went over to the cash register to pay, he was smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Hiyoshi was beding over, breathing hard. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand that was gripping his tennis racket. They were in the middle of their private tennis practice. Akaya was on the opposite side of court, not looking even half as exhausted as he felt. Hiyoshi clenched the racket determinedly as he commanded. "Again."

Akaya nodded with a grin and got ready to serve. Last weekend's day as master and servant had been fun. After leaving the café, Hiyoshi had even taken him to the arcade! And although Hiyoshi had made him play weird games, beat him at DDR and the taiko drums… he would still pawn him on the court! Their date had ended earlier than he wanted when Hiyoshi's stupid family had called and made him go home, but he'd walked Hiyoshi to the station and he'd even been given a goodbye kiss.

Now, as Akaya looked over the net to the other side of the court, he saw red for completely different reasons than usual.

The ball was hit back to the other side of the court and Hiyoshi could feel it all the way up his arm. How was it he could spend hours in the dojo and barely break a sweat, yet he was so badly out of shape for tennis? He was angry at himself for letting it go this far.

There was a happy cackle heard on the other end of the courts as Akaya returned the ball happily. "Heh heh."

It was a little unreasonable, but that cackle pissed Hiyoshi off. It fueled his determination as he returned the ball again, allowing him to focused completely once more as he tried to last at least a little while longer.

Akaya knew better than to take it easy on Hiyoshi, using Sanada's "ka" and muga no kyochi to return the ball with the powerful smash. He relished the fact that his grip was finally strong enough to use them.

Tightening his own grip, Hiyoshi readied himself for the return. He managed to catch it and return it just barely, falling over in the process.

"Out."

"Damn." He lay on the ground for a moment, then dragged himself back up. He was trying not to let himself get too frustrated, but let's face it, Akaya was an infuriating practice partner at times.

"You're getting better," Akaya said proudly. It hadn't been in, but he was surprised Hiyoshi could hit the muga no kyochi to the other side of the court now.

Hiyoshi walked over to the side bench to wipe himself off with a towel and get a drink of water. "Doesn't feel like it." Still, he grinned and shook his head at Akaya's praise, then held up Akaya's bottle, asking silently if he wanted it.

"That's because I'm amazing." Akaya grinned and walked over to take his bottle from Hiyoshi. "Thanks."

Downing more of his water, Hiyoshi chuckled after swallowing greedily and rolled his eyes. "Give me a few more weeks and I'll break that ego of yours."

"Yeah, right." Rikkai's junior demon laughed. "You wish." He followed up with a smirk before he took a long sip of his water.

Hiyoshi took a few deep breaths to get his breathing regulated, then pushed himself away from the bench. "Ready for more?" He knew he was pushing himself more than he should, but didn't care.

"Sure." Akaya smirked, and then leaned over to steal a quick kiss before picking up his racket and heading back over to his side of the court

Surprised at the kiss, Hiyoshi blushed. He cleared his throat, going back to his side of the court as well. He looked across the court and watched Kirihara get ready, feeling more energized he got into position as well.

There was a huge grin on Akaya's face as he used his knuckle serve.

Hiyoshi cursed under his breath and readied for the serve he knew was coming. He had returned it many times before and mentally prepared himself, but his body was dragging and it didn't react fast enough. The ball caught him in the face and he fell to the side, hitting the court hard.

"O-Oi-you alright?" Akaya yelled and ran over to him. He knew somewhere there had to be a rule about not killing your new boyfriend.

There was more cursing and Hiyoshi pushed him away. "It's nothing." He could taste blood in his mouth and winced when he touched his split lip.

"Come on... Let's go get you washed up."

"I said it was nothing." The stubborn boy wiped at his mouth, unintentionally smearing the blood. "Go back to your side of the court."

"You're bleeding…"

"And you haven't before on the court?" He knew that not to be true. In fact, he thought it rare for anyone to play Akaya without one or both ending up a bloodied mess.

"Yeah... I have. A lot... but this match is for fun, not something serious enough to draw blood..." Akaya frowned, disliking being the reason for Hiyoshi's injury. It was an odd feeling he wasn't used to feeling for an opponent.

Hiyoshi sighed, grumbling, "I could have returned that shot." He hated showing any kind of weakness.

"I know that. You've returned it a lot."

Seeing that worried face and the admission that Kirihara knew he could return it, Hiyoshi finally was convinced to relent. "Alright, fine. I guess we can stop for now." He stood, brushing himself off and going over to his towel.

Akaya sighed in relief and smiled a little. "You look pretty rugged with a bloody lip," he teased, happy Hiyoshi had agreed to stop.

"You like the rugged look?" Hiyoshi rolled his eyes, and then winced as he applied pressure to his still bleeding lip. He would have pointed out that it was a sign of weakness, but held his tongue since he liked Kirihara's view better.

"Hmm... On you it looks good."

Hearing Kirihara say things like that still caught Hiyoshi off guard. He still wasn't used to it, or their new relationship status. He coughed, embarrassed, and looked around a little aimlessly before leaning the slightest bit forward towards him with rose-tinted cheeks. "And how do you feel about being kissed... by someone looking a bit rugged?"

Akaya blushed a little as well and grinned, pulling on the front of Hiyoshi's shirt to tug him down and meet him half way, kissing him gently because he didn't want to hurt his lip. "Mm... I like it..."

Grin widening, Hiyoshi hovered there for a moment over his lips and tried not to wince every time soft lips met broken skin.

"Puri~"

"Akaya..."

Akaya froze, eyes going wide and terrified. His head slowly turned sideways as if in a horror movie towards the familiar voices.

Niou leaned against the fence smirking, with Yukimura at his side smiling that somewhat evil smile. Sanada was behind them with a raised eyebrow.

"B-buchou...?"

"Shit..." Hiyoshi echoed, slowly moving away from him. He wondered if it was too late to make a break for it.

"Oh~ don't stop on our account. We were enjoying the show." Niou supplied helpfully and batted his eyelashes cutely at them.

"It's good to see you're getting in extra practice," Yukimura smiled ever so sweetly at his youngest regular. "That means the extra laps you have tomorrow should be no problem, correct?"

Akaya made a little whimpering noise. "Yes, sir..."

Sanada looked across to the other side of the courts and acknowledged courteously "It's been a while, Atobe."

Both Hiyoshi's and Kirihara's heads swiveled at the same time in the other direction to see the Hyotei members on the other side of the court. Akaya made another little whimper and clutched tightly to Hiyoshi's shoulder while Hiyoshi felt his insides freezing with the look Atobe was giving him.

"So it has..." Atobe replied in a flawless, casual response to Sanada. "Though I had not expected our reunion of sorts to be under such…" he looked straight at Hiyoshi, as if he was scrutinizing his very soul with his insight "…interesting circumstances. Na, Kabaji?"

"Usu."

Peaking over their heads from behind the small Hyotei group, Choutarou popped out, blushing like crazy. "S-sorry... Hiyoshi... It was completely by coincidence that we're here..." he looked over to Shishido for support.

Shishido snorted and mumbled beside his doubles partner under his breath about this being lame.

Completely sheet faced, Hiyoshi leaned back over to Akaya to ask in a desperate whisper, "Stay, fight... or make a run for it?"

Akaya, for one, looked ready to pass out. "I-I don't know…"

Looking over everyone like this was the most fun he'd had in weeks, Niou smirked sadistically. "It's like a cheesy movie. Isn't this great, buchou?"

"Hn..." Sanada supplied unhelpfully.

"Atobe, it seems I'll have to take my kohai to get some shots now. I wouldn't want him catching any of Hyotei's diseases, such as chronic failure, now would I?" Yukimura supplied with a pleasant smile.

"My dear, Yukimura. Seeing as how your little kohai has already tasted failure through both your own, as well as his actions, I don't see how that could possibly be a new concern." Atobe replied flippantly with an overly polite sneer, and then looked sharply at Hiyoshi. "Though, I might have cause for distress if he's infected mine with your school's level of civility."

Glaring daggers at Rikkai's buchou, Hiyoshi stepped back and away from Kirihara, not wanting to make trouble for him. He didn't even want to think about the earful he was going to be receiving later, despite the fact he was no longer in the tennis club. Kirihara could very well get it worse.

Feeling Hiyoshi starting to back away, Akaya grabbed for his hand, not letting him go. He swallowed hard, trying to put on his bratty face again. He wasn't going to let his boyfriend get away because of this. They weren't doing anything wrong!

Watching them closely, Yukimura turned his overly friendly gaze towards Atobe once more. "Hn... Atobe, it seems we should settle this on the court. Naa, Sanada?"

"Ah."

Niou laughed. "This should be fun."

By that time, Hiyoshi's face had frozen into a neutral position. He'd stopped moving away from Kirihara but wasn't sure what he should do next.

"As much as I'd love to answer to your rather crude though tempting way of challenge, unfortunately, we've other plans that must be attended to." Atobe replied just as congenially. He snapped his fingers. "Ohtori!"

Ohtori immediately came forward as commanded and approached Hiyoshi uncertainly. "Hiyoshi, you're hurt. Let me look at it..."

"It's nothing. Why are you here?" Hiyoshi was glad to have his attention switched to the much less intimidating form of his friend, but was still hesitant to let his guard down.

"Wakashi... I'm sorry, I didn't know you were… Um… I'll help you get your stuff together." Ohtori said in a hushed tone, practically a whisper. He looked at Kirihara holding his friends hand with an embarrassed and confused expression.

Choutarou only called him by his first name when he was serious. Perhaps he should listen to him for now. "Kirihara, I'll message you later."

Akaya clutched at Hiyoshi's hand harder with a betrayed look. "But..."

"Hn... It's a shame to see Hyotei running away, but it's to be expected. Come on then," Yukimura looked to his players, including Akaya. "We should be catching the train soon." That said, he gracefully turned and started toward the direction of the station, with Niou following along after him.

Akaya watched them leave, and then glanced back at Hiyoshi, worried.

"Akaya, let's go." Sanada commanded, waiting for him.

Too proud to grace Rikkai with any form of response, Atobe sneered, then directed his cold stare towards his ex-player. "Hiyoshi. Stop dawdling and let's go."

Hiyoshi growled. He really, really hated being told what to do. Feeling defiant, he took Kirihara's chin and kissed him straight on the lips. The contact hurt his split lip, making him wince, but he refused to let go until he was satisfied. He wanted them all to know exactly where he stood. He didn't pull back until after he felt Kirihara start to respond, and then looked at his demon boyfriend stubbornly before walking away towards his ex-teammates, a red-faced Ohtori trailing behind him.

Akaya froze at the contact at first, but then immediately melted into his arms and smiled into the kiss. He licked at the blood on his lips as Hiyoshi pulled away with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Akaya."

At Sanada's voice and having watched Hiyoshi's exit, Akaya grinned wildly. He grabbed his own bag before running after his fukubuchou who had just turned to take his leave as well.

"Not a word." Hiyoshi warned Ohtori and Shishido as he went to stand next to them, glaring daggers. His only relief was that Oshitari and Gakuto hadn't been there. Shishido just smirked at him while Ohtori couldn't seem to meet his gaze.

"Really, Hiyoshi. If you needed a tennis partner, there are much more suitable choices." Atobe began what promised to be a long winded lecture.

Hiyoshi blocked him out and followed along silently as they made their way away from the tennis park, not looking back.

"You're not one to talk, Atobe. I saw you meet up with Sanada at the street courts the other day." Shishido smirked, piquing Hiyoshi's attention.

"Wasn't Jiroh-senpai with Marui-san again last weekend?" Ohtori added, still blushing.

Hiyoshi's eyes widened at this information and couldn't help it as he tried to hide his snickering behind a hand.

"Enough of this nonsense. If Ore-sama deems it pertinent to spend time at the street courts, Ore-sama will very well do so."

~Meanwhile elsewhere~

"Akaya you know unofficial matches aren't allowed."

"But fukubuchou! I just—"

"He's right, Akaya."

"Buchou!"

"He's not on the tennis team anymore. The Hyotei brat isn't going to steal any tennis secrets or nothing from him to leak back to Mr. high and mighty. Right?"

"Niou-senpai…" Akaya gave his senpai his starry eyed senpai adoration look.

~Later that evening~

Hiyoshi sent Kirihara a text message:

"You okay?"

"Yeah, Niou-senpai saved my ass. You?"

"Good. Found out something I really didn't want to know, but fine."

"You did? What?"

"Did you know that Sanada and Atobe meet up at the street courts?"

"Really? Do you think they meet up like we meet up?"

"Yes."

"Really? Woah… Totally would have never guessed! Heh heh."

"Yes. Now let's never talk of it ever again."

THE END

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Authors Note: FINISHED! Thank you everyone who read, reviewed, and stayed with me through this story. ^_^


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